


the seagulls' song

by lil0urry



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Keith centric, M/M, PINING KEITH, S6 Spoilers, Slow Burn, Time Jumping, broganes broganes broganes, keith building a relationship with his mom, mutual growth, the trip back to Earth, the two years krolia and keith spent in the space whale, yes im including shiro/adam in this and no one can stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-24 00:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil0urry/pseuds/lil0urry
Summary: It’s been… a tough couple of weeks. Or at least Keith thinks it’s been weeks (they’re still trying to figure out how to measure time around here). What with meeting his mother in the middle of a mission, being hurled into a new one with her… and suddenly being thrown into her memories, glimpsing into her future. And having her do the same with Keith? It’s honestly been a little too hard for Keith’s heart and brain to process everything that’s going on. There have been too many feelings, so many of them conflicting, Keith can barely handle it.So he does what he does best: lock his jaw and push it down.On the two years Keith spent with Krolia on their mission, the memories they saw, the flashes of the future they'd glimpsed, some even including Keith's alleged rival that make him... uneasy. And also what happens next.





	1. part i: las olas (the waves)

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh, I got overwhelmed by season six so this was written as a feverish dream. i can't stop writing. i want to share!!
> 
> The fic's title and each chapter's name are translated/based off of [Natalia Lafourcade's _Soledad y El Mar_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4jntP0tco)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this/serves as a hug after this season.

**part i: las olas.**

_**(the waves)** _

Keith sighs, rubbing his temples, putting his palms over his eyes. Indigo presses her muzzle against his forehead, a small concerned whine escaping her throat. Keith sighs again, lifting an arm to pat her neck softly, his fingers intertwining with her blue fur.

“It’s okay, Indy,” he says, blinking, eyes adjusting to the light. “I’m okay.”

His beautiful wolf circles him a few times before she seems to decide that Keith is okay and moves to sit on his lap. Keith smiles softly, running his fingers through her fur, feeling the tension in his back unwind a little, acutely aware of Krolia’s eyes on him. It takes Keith a few minutes to calm down, and when he feels brave enough to meet her eyes, Keith finds there are tears on her own, bubbling and spilling over in silence.

Keith really hates this, when the light from the dark star touches him, and it’s his turn to have his past and his future laid out before him. Before them. He really hates it, how time behaves in this place. He hates how it sometimes goes slower and forces him to watch yellow eyes spill tears in slow motion, bubbling, spilling over in eternal silence.

Krolia looks away then, time resuming a pace close to normal. Keith sees her wipe her eyes with her shirt, watches her as she stands up, dusting herself off with a sigh. She doesn’t look at Keith, instead choosing to stare at the embers of their slowly dying fire, her eyes far away.

“I’m gonna go find some more firewood,” she mumbles, sparing one look at Keith before she turns and makes her way to the forest.

Keith drops his back to the ground, startling Indigo in his lap. She yelps indignantly before she finds a new comfortable position on top of Keith, demanding his attentive hand on her neck again. Keith does so absentmindedly, staring at the sky and agonizing over not being able to name any of the stars he can see. He breathes slowly, feeling Indy’s weight rise and fall with his chest.

It’s been… a tough couple of weeks. Or at least Keith thinks it’s been weeks (they’re still trying to figure out how to measure time around here). What with meeting his mother in the middle of a mission, being hurled into a new one with her… and suddenly being thrown into her memories, glimpsing into her future. And having her do the same with Keith? It’s honestly been a little too hard for Keith’s heart and brain to process everything that’s going on. There have been too many feelings, so many of them conflicting, Keith can barely handle it.

So he does what he does best: lock his jaw and push it down.

He knows he’s not the only one having a hard time on this space whale. He knows because sometimes, the time flashes from the dark star don’t stray too far from their timeline, and the images are always too vivid. He’s seen Krolia in their shelter, knees to her chest as she keeps an eye on Keith’s sleeping body. He’s felt her feelings: a bone tearing guilt, a teeth gritting, digging-your-nails-into-your-fists determination. Keith tries not to dwell too much, choosing to keep his heart still instead of feeling it stretch into a thousand different directions.

Krolia comes back a few doboshes later, dropping the firewood at her feet. The sound makes both Indigo and Keith look up, the wolf moving to greet the Galran woman.

Keith’s lips can’t help but twitch into a small smile, watching his mother crouch down to scratch the wolf’s head in greeting. Krolia’s warmed up to Indy, Keith can tell, and for some reason that makes him feel proud. It makes warmth bloom in his chest. Especially after enduring Krolia’s screaming when Keith had thoughtlessly jumped in to save the cosmic wolf, risking his own life for her. And her mumbled complaints about how adding a third to their party would risk the mission or whatever, but Indigo has proved her worth. She’s an avid hunter, a loyal companion and the perfect cuddle buddy at night.

Keith stands up from his seat on the ground, the sudden movement bringing Krolia’s attention to him. Their eyes meet.

And it’s awkward again, the tension building up between their gazes. There’s too many feelings, too many things unsaid, that hang between them. Krolia is the first to move, trying to alleviate the tension and distract them for a little while. She knows what they both need, and Keith knows what she’s going to do. He cocks his head to the side, eyeing his mother with a crooked smile.

So she does what she does best: curling a smile at him, cocking her hip, and twirling her gun.

“Hey Keith, wanna go hunting?”

“Hell yeah.”

. 　 ✹ 　 · ·    ˚ 　  
·　　　　 .  
　 ·  · + 　　　.  ✵  
　 　　 　 .   　　　  
✺ . 　　　 ✫  ✹ 　  
　 　 ˚ 　　　 ·✵  　  
✷  　.　　　·  　 *

 

Some days are short, like really short. Keith can feel time slipping by, ticking faster, and those days he feels hopeful. Those days, he thinks he can see the end of the mission coming nearer. Those days, he can feel the knot of his impatience losen. It’s been almost three months since he and Krolia settled on the space whale, and a part of him longs for action, yearns for it. And on small days, Keith can feel it coming, and he’s excited.

But long days, oh, they are long. Ticks bleed into doboshes into vargas at an excruciating pace, and the jittery energy under Keith’s skin threatens to overwhelm him. Those days, he hates being stuck on this stupid whale. He hates how conscious he is of every second he feels is wasted, how conscious he is of every thought that forms in his head. He hates how these thoughts make him spiral. Shiro’s eyes, glowing and purple, staring at him with malice, are always on the forefront of his mind. He hates them. He hates how un-Shiro they look. He hates how he can’t figure them out, how he can’t get them out of his head.

Those days, Keith runs. Keith runs the length of their animal planet ten times, Indigo at his side, always keeping in pace. Those days, Keith whacks trees with his blade, carving deep wounds into them, pouring his impatience, his worry, his frustration, his guilt, his anger, his tainted happiness, his strength into them.

Today is one of those days, and when Keith stumbles back into their shelter, chest heaving in exhaustion, Krolia is waiting for him. She always is. Keith doesn’t know what Krolia usually does on long days. Keith always runs away. He guesses his mother must leave their shelter, because sometimes, like tonight, she’s already cooking up fresh space rabbit for dinner when Keith arrives. But she’s always there before him, waiting, always.

She never asks what he’s been up to, and Keith doesn’t usually offer anything up. The mission is exhausting them both, so the two of them understand the silences.

Keith plops down on the ground next to the fire, running his hands through his sweaty hair. He watches Krolia cook, watches Indigo pad to her water bowl, listens to the crackle of the fire, listens to the sounds of the night. Indigo tenses up then, rushing towards Keith in instinct. She whines, her wet nose nudging Keith’s hand.

“It’s coming,” Keith announces, softly gripping Indy’s fur. She can always tell when it’s coming.

Krolia’s whole body becomes stiff as a board, her grip on the spoon she is holding tightens. The entire landscape starts lighting up, so Keith takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. There’s nothing left to do but wait for it.

Keith finds himself in the white dimension once more, and he is vaguely aware of Krolia’s presence near him. Keith watches as the light starts solidifying around him until everything is blue. The blue sky, the blue sea, the blue eyes on him. Tension melts from his bones, every cell relaxing as he digs his feet in the cool sand. He’s warm, relaxed, content. The wind tastes salty and the waves crash in front of him, water teasing his toes. The tide pushes and it pulls, the waves crash and they shimmer. The sea sings with impeccable rhythm. Keith feels a hand wrap around his wrist.

The sea. The sea. The sea.

There’s a hum. “It’s like a bolero, isn’t it?” a voice says from beside him. “The same notes, but a different sound and feeling. Every time.”

Keith feels himself smile.

“Yeah,” he says breathlessly, and when he begins to turn around, to take a look at his companion’s face, the light flashes again and he’s back on the space whale. Indy’s grounding warmth is pressed up on his side. Keith can’t bring himself to open his eyes, feeling too relaxed, too happy to let the vision go. He takes a deep breath, enjoying the feeling for a little while longer, squeezing the life out of the ticks before he allows himself to come back to reality. His eyes take a while to focus on the fire in front of him, of his mother offering up a plate for him.

Time tastes different after that, with a filled up belly, with the ache of exercise of his muscles settling in, with the lingering contentedness that has come from the vision. The atmosphere has shifted between Keith and Krolia too, he can tell. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look so relaxed, her face soft while she gnaws on a bone, kind of how Keith does when he’s eating chicken wings.

“That was a future flash, wasn’t it?” Krolia asks, her warm gaze on her son. That’s what they’ve grown to calling the phenomenon.

Keith nods. “I guess so,” he replies. “I’ve never been to the beach. Not on Earth, at least.”

Krolia hums in response, her hand reaching out to pet Indigo between them. They’re quiet for a while.

“It was nice,” Krolia comments. Keith nods, slow, feeling so relaxed he’s slippery. There’s another comfortable silence where they both watch the fire begin to die and Indigo chase an insect.

“Who is he?” Krolia asks, brow furrowed in curiosity. “The Earthling you were with.”

Keith closes his eyes, trying to remember and only seeing blue, blue, blue. “I don’t know,” he finally admits. He thinks of the familiar voice, feeling stupid for not recognizing it. He thinks of the warmth in his chest, the soft hand on his wrist. Keith sighs wistfully. “I didn’t get a look on his face.”

A new pause.

“You were happy with him,” Krolia says.

Keith bites his lip. “Yeah.”

 

Later that night, after they’ve cleaned up, after they’ve settled into their makeshift cots, Keith feels his tongue become uncharacteristically loose. He thinks it’s the mixture of the happy exhaustion that suddenly overcame him, of the dark and of Indy’s warm fur curled up beside him. He thinks it’s all that which made him talk.

He tells Krolia about how he’s worried about Shiro, of what his future flashes might mean. He tells his mother about how Shiro has always been there for him, after his father died, of how much it means to him to save his friend, his brother.

Beside him, in the darkness, Krolia just listens, a happy smile on her face.

 

.  　 　 .  * . 　　 *  
　 ·  . ˚ 　  
　 　　   * .  
　　 ✦ 　　　 　 ⊹    . 　  
*  　　　　　　　 　　 　　  ·  
✵  . 　　·  　 ✫  
*   　　 ✺ 　　　　 ✫ *

 

“Keith!” Krolia calls out, jogging up to him alongside Indy.

Keith looks up from his work, hands becoming calloused around the makeshift hammer he’d made a few days ago. He’s been working on creating a stove, to cook food and keep them warm, and make their shelter become a little bit more of a home. It’s been seven months now, so it’s safe to guess that they’re going to be here a while. And it makes sense to try and settle in better. Krolia seems to like the idea, since she’s also been bringing stuff to decorate the cave walls, making the whole thing seem more homey, cozy.

Keith wipes the sweat from his brow, squinting to make out his mother under the harsh light. He stands up, hands curling into fists, knowing that it’s coming again. Krolia slows down to a stop next to him, breathing hard, glad to have made it in time to deliver a warning, and suddenly they’re enveloped by the dark star’s light.

It’s stronger during the day, when the space whales are facing towards the star in their timeless loop towards it. It’s harder when it hits, and Keith hasn’t braced himself properly, collapsing into Krolia’s arms.

He grits his teeth. It’s always more intense when they’re touching.

When he opens his eyes, he recognizes the scene immediately. There’s a wall in front of him, and his tiny fists are attacking the concrete mercilessly.

“Hyah!” Keith screams, fists colliding. He takes a deep breath. “Hyah!” He punches again.

He’s seven years old, and he’s in the backyard of his third foster home in two months.

“Hyah!” he screams again, anger and grief coursing through his veins. A part of him is grateful for his father’s insistence on taking martial arts lessons, otherwise he had no idea how he’s supposed to keep this fire under control.

“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” His knuckles are breaking, starting to bleed, staining the white wall before him. “Hyah!” he screeches once more, fist connecting hard, crooked. He screams in pain, the fire focusing on his wrist. His broken wrist. “Hyah!” he says weakly, tears starting to slip from his violet eyes.

His knees give in, and he sinks into the grass. Keith cries, feeling angry at himself for doing so, feeling weak, weak, weak and so very alone.

He hears footsteps coming up behind him, and suddenly there’s a hand on his shoulder. He slaps it away.

“Keith,” a voice says softly. It’s Aletta, his foster mother, brow twisted in concern. “Keith, are you okay?”

Keith clenches his fists, pain shooting up his left arm under the strain. “Yes,” he replies through his teeth.

“Keith,” Aletta says again, crouching down beside him. Soft small hands reach for his small, swollen wrist. Keith flinches in pain, turning his body away from the woman beside him. “Keith, we need to get that checked out.” Her voice is dripping with concern, and it irritates Keith for some reason his seven year old brain can’t find an explanation for.

“Stop pretending you care about me,” he tells her, his voice cold.

“I do care about you, Keith,” Aletta says, putting a pleading emphasis on his name. “Please, we need to go to the doctor.” Her hand reaches for his wrist again.

“You’re going to give up on me. Everyone does.”

Aletta gasps, drawing her hand towards her face, and the light flashes again, making the scene disappear.

Keith feels strong arms tighten around him when Keith comes back to his body. It’s Krolia, and her whole body is shaking.

“My baby,” she’s saying like a litany. There’s a wet patch forming on his shoulder, Krolia’s tears falling on him, each feeling like punch landing square on his gut. “My baby, my baby, my baby.”

“Shut up,” Keith says weakly, his voice thick with tears. His limp arms finally find some movement, shaky and weak, as he brings them to Krolia’s chest trying to push her away. He’s getting overwhelmed, the fire under his skin that he felt back then is coming back with full force. He feels angry, so angry and lonely, so lonely. Krolia presses him further towards her body, and Keith can’t stop shaking. He feels so conflicted, so confused. “Shut up, shut up.”

“Keith,” Krolia says, finally pushing him away, her hands on his shoulders, her touch inexplicably soft. “My baby,” she whispers, tears still boiling in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Keith feels his shoulders shake with an earth-shattering sob. “I know,” he mumbles, trying to keep his shaking knees steady.

“I’m so sorry,” Krolia repeats.

“I know,” Keith replies, looking at the ground. He can’t bear to see those yellow eyes full of pain and guilt.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she keeps saying, over and over and over.

“I know!” Keith suddenly shouts, making both Krolia and Indigo flinch. Indy yelps with concern. His anger is making him feel brave enough to stare into Krolia’s eyes. “I know! I know you’re sorry!”

Keith hates the hot tears that are rolling down his face. He hates the look in Krolia’s eyes. He hates the way his voice shakes.

“I know you love me,” Keith says and gulps. “I understand why you left. But it still-- it still hurts.”

Krolia stays silent. Her hands on Keith’s shoulders feel heavy, and the thousand emotions that have been boiling in his stomach come tumbling out, crawling their way up Keith’s throat in sobs and broken words.

“It still _hurts_ and I hate that it does.” Keith sniffles. “I hate that I’m still mad. That I’m mad at myself for still feeling hurt over this, that I’m mad at you for leaving Earth. I hate it.”

Keith digs his nails into his palms, hating how illogical it is. Hating how stupid he feels for feeling what he feels. So he tries to do what he does best: lock his jaw and push it down.

Krolia doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t seem to be able to. Her jaw opens and closes but no sound ever comes out. Instead, she puts a hand over his cheek, thumb picking up some tears.

Keith’s jaw softens and he lets himself cry.

 

. ⊹  　　✷ · *        
. 　.  　　 ⊹ 　　 ·　  
✹   . ⊹  
·  　　 　　 　　　　  · 　　  
　　 ·    ✧　 　  
　　　 　✷  · · 　　  +

 

Keith thinks it’s funny that he gets a New Year’s future flash on the day they reach a year on the space whale. His mother is asleep on the cot next to him as he stares out the cave, into the night. Indy issues her usual warning before the dark star’s flashes, curling up next to Keith as if she was also bracing herself. Keith puts his hand on her head, scratching between her ears, wondering if Indy gets the flashes too.

The moment he breathes in, he knows he’s no longer sitting next to Krolia in their house. The air is salty, heavy, thick with moisture that cools his face as a gift from the sea. The sea. The sea. The sea.

Keith’s toes curl in the sand, digging his feet in. He has a peaceful smile on his face as the ocean’s breeze blows the hair out of the way. He feels it dance against his neck, his ears. He reaches to touch the back of his head. He needs a haircut. His hair is really turning into a mullet, though he refuses to admit that to Lance.

The full moon is shining in the sea, and Keith’s heart does a little squeeze, not realizing how much he’s missing the pretty satelite. The sea pushes and pulls, singing its rhythmic bolero, slow and steady. Keith just listens, hands in his pockets, until the song of some nearby seagulls startles him. Keith turns around in instinct, making out two figures in the distance.

One comes into focus before the other. It’s Indy, bounding up to him and nuzzling his legs excitedly. He greets his loyal wolf with a scratch behind her ears before he looks up at the other figure approaching. Keith eyes lock onto the deep blue ones in front of him.

It’s Lance, wearing a snapback that pushes all his hair out of his face. He’s sporting a soft smile, showing off his dimples. He’s wearing shorts, a purple tank top and his feet are bare, digging into the sand as he heads towards Keith.

Keith takes a deep breath in some weird sort of anticipation.

“Yo,” Lance says, shooting Keith a two fingered salute. Keith’s lips twitch into a grin.

“Hey,” he replies, turning towards the sea, Lance mirroring Keith beside him. They’re quiet for a while before Lance plops down into the sand, tugging on Keith’s wrist in an invitation to join him.

Keith gives in easily, taking a seat next to Lance with his feet crossed. He places his hands behind him for support, like Lance is. Keith’s brain provides him with the fact that their hands are only inches away from each other. He pushes it away.

“I love it here,” Lance says quietly.

“Me too,” Keith agrees and turns to Lance, only to find the Cuban boy already staring at him. Keith has never seen that expression on Lance’s face before, and it makes his stomach do a weird flip. It’s soft, with eyes as wide as they’re vulnerable, but so very happy. Keith’s happy to see that look on his friend’s face.

The splashing of Indy’s paws against the water catches both their attentions. The cosmic wolf is running around, splashing in the waves, looking like she’s having fun. She pauses for a sec, turning her head towards the moon and letting out a mighty howl that sends chills down Keith’s spine.

“Jonesy!” Lance shouts, cupping his hand around his mouth so that the sound carries above the sea’s song. _Jonesy?_ The wolf’s ears twitch and she turns her glowing yellow eyes to Lance, as if she’s used to being called by that name. “Get back here! There’s jellyfish on this beach at night!”

The beautiful wolf runs towards them, jumping on Lance and pressing her paws against his chest. The lunge catches Lance off guard, and his back hits the sand as Indy starts licking his face.

“Jonesy!” Lance squeals, his voice high pitched and giggly. He has a huge smile on his face, and a lot of glowy alien wolf drool over his face. “Quit it, girl!”

“Maybe if you started calling her by her _actual_ name, she’ll stop,” Keith suggests, as he lays down on his elbows to be more level with Lance. He cocks a brow and lips into a fond teasing expression.

“No way,” Lance exclaims, his hands catching on the fur of Indy’s neck. “She likes Jonesy better! Don’t you, baby girl?” he says, scratching the back of Indigo’s ears, which Lance has quickly discovered is her weak spot. She yips excitedly, tongue out, tail wagging happily. “See?” Lance says, looking up at Keith cockily.

There’s an eyelash on Lance’s cheekbone, over his new dusting of freckles. That’s all Keith can focus on.

He clears his throat, trying to make his brain work. “You’re a pain in the ass, did you know?”

“A Pain In The Ass, at your service,” Lance replies and he winks. He _winks_.

Keith can’t allow himself to try and process the fact that he’s motherfucking _blushing_ , because three sudden loud cracks can be heard from behind them. Keith jumps up immediately, anxiety levels skyrocketing, instinctively reaching for a blade that isn’t there. But his eyes widen when his eyes meet the sight awaiting him.

There’s a hand on his wrist, holding unto his pulse with a soothing pressure. It’s Lance, stepping up to stand alongside Keith, arms touching.

“We did it, _greñudo_ ,” Lance says softly, his free hand reaching to tangle his fingers on Keith’s hair. Keith’s forced to look at him, and Keith can’t breathe. “We saved all of this.”

The fireworks are exploding in Lance’s eyes.

“Happy new year,” Lance says, voice impossibly soft. There are fingers slowly slipping from his wrist, slowly making a trail down to find their home in between Keith’s, slowly tightening around them.

Keith holds in his breath--and the flashing light is back.

Keith is back on his cot, heart beating impossibly fast. He tries his best to calm his beating heart, his aching lungs. He squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them he finds Indigo sniffing around their shelter, looking for someone who should be there, but isn’t.

Keith feels his jaw lock.

Breathe in.

Push it down.

 

✵  　 ✵  ˚ 　　. 　 .   ✺  
　  　. 　　 ✦   ⋆ 　 .  
*  ✧　　　  ˚  
    * * 　　　　　　　 　*  ˚ 　　  
·   　*  　　　　　　 　  
　 　 ˚     　　　 ˚ ·

 

Things with Krolia have changed a lot since Keith’s outburst. They’ve been smoother, more open, more relaxed. It’s been eighteen months now, and Keith has learned so much about his mother. Some things small, like how her favorite food on Earth were frozen corndogs (yes, still frozen), and some things big, like the details of her father’s death. He’s seen his mother in her teens, crouched over her Thelusian father’s dead body, broken gaze fixed on her Galran mother’s face.

Zarkon had been cruel to everyone.

Everyone.

Keith has gotten to know his mother in a way he never imagined was possible before this mission. It was something inevitable, them growing closer. Of course it isn’t a perfect mother-son relationship. They’ve shouted it out, more often than Keith would like to admit. They’ve also spent many vargas wrapped around each other, comforting the other to peace. They have their good days and their bad days. Some days are so bad Keith forces himself through his ten laps around their space whale (who’s grown significantly since they’d first met. Keith wonders if they feed on Time or Quintessence, because in all his time there, he’s never seen her eat--oh yeah, she’s a female. Her space calf keeps following them around, swimming around them like a moon through its orbit, bringing cloudy days sometimes). Some days, Krolia is digging her long ass nails into his biceps, eyes blind with rage after relieving a particular memory of Keith’s.  

“I’m gonna _kick_ that _Shiro_ ,” she says, her words punctuated by the tightening of her grip. She looks so mad, Keith would actually believe her if he didn’t know how much she likes Shiro. He’s seen some future flashes, his mother protecting Shiro’s body, rolling her eyes at one of his jokes. He knows she doesn’t mean it, but still. “That was so _dangerous_ , Keith!”

Keith finds himself laughing under his breath, body shaking with it. Shiro had let Keith drive his bike at fourteen, and that first drive… didn’t go well. He has a scar on his hairline because of it, and he’d broken his left wrist _again_. Krolia… wasn’t happy.

“That was so _reckless!”_ Krolia breathes out. “You should _not_ have been doing that at your age.”

Keith’s laughter grows louder, his amusement growing as Krolia’s face fights between an angry frown and a smile. He thinks of Krolia, of everything they’ve been through, over the dangers they’ve faced in their short time together, worrying about something that happened nearly five years ago.

He looks her in the eye, face breaking into a smile. “You’re such a mom.”

The look on Krolia’s eyes at that very tick is one Keith will never forget.

˚ 　　　　  · ✧　　  
  
.　　 ·  　　　　 ✧　 .  
* 　   ✦ ˚ 　  　·  
.  ✧　 ✦  ⊹ 　✵

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you guys think of this.
> 
> Also! _greñudo_ pretty much means someone with a lot of hair, like, longer than it should be for the person. It's what Lance calls Keith on the Spanish dub instead of mullet and ever since i heard that I was in love. so i'm pushing the greñudo agenda.
> 
> This will have two more chapters. they're gonna be longer than this so i expect to update in two weeks.
> 
> Say hi on twitter in the meantime! Come cry with me about Keith--> @softbakugos


	2. part ii: la soledad (the solitude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of Keith's mission with Krolia, and coming back to the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! sorry this took forever. I decided to split the story into four parts instead of three to give you guys steadier updates.
> 
> i hope you guys like this chapter!

**part ii: la soledad**

**_(the solitude)_ **

 

Keith holds his breath, one hand with a grip on his blade, the other hovering over Indigo’s neck. He takes his time, observing his prey with the eye of a hunter, ready to strike any tick now.

Hidden behind some bushes, Keith waits. This is… new for him, actually being able to exercise patience to yield focus, unlike in the past. He’d always let the heat of adrenaline cloud his mind, but not anymore. He’s learned about the wait now. He’s seen its impact, felt the satisfaction that comes from it when the mission succeeds.

That moment, that very moment when the huge space armadillo lowers its head, exposing its neck, Keith’s hand descends to touch Indigo, who immediately teleports herself to the space armadillo, claws digging into its neck. The animal tries to shake off the wolf violently, and when it positions itself to attack Indigo, Keith lunges. He lands on top of its leathery armor shell, right on the middle of its back. He swings one foot around it, squeezing his thighs into position so he can ride the animal and not fall off when it starts hardening its shell and move to get Keith off its back. The space armadillo wails and Keith takes his chance, plunging his blade into its skull. Green blood splashes Keith’s cheekbone and the animal falls into the ground with a thud. 

Keith sighs as he dismounts his prey, feet hitting the ground with the stealth and grace of a practiced hunter. He heads towards Indigo, scratching behind her ears.

“Good job, girl,” Keith coos. Indy wags her tail happily. Keith straightens up, gaze fixed on the dead space armadillo. “This ought to last us for a few days,” Keith comments, kneeling next to the animal to try and remove the shell from it. When he finally finishes doing so, he wipes the blood off his blade in the grass before he sheaths it. 

He heads to a nearby creek and washes the remains of the shell clean. Indy heads towards Keith, placing her chin on his shoulder, watching him work. Keith pats her neck and she kneels beside him, allowing Keith to tie the shells on Indigo’s back so she can help him carry it back to camp.

“We could make some shields out of it,” Keith explains to his companion. Indy just looks at him and snorts. Keith smiles, tapping her jaw as he stands up. Indigo’s gotten so much bigger, Keith can’t help but note, and so beautiful. Her fur shines in the shadows of the forest as Keith follows her back to their shelter, game thrown over his shoulder. 

Krolia’s just starting a fire when Keith and Indigo arrive. He watches from the edge of the clearing as Indy teleports to launch herself at Krolia. Keith giggles a little as Krolia is knocked to the ground, cosmic wolf on top of her, happily licking her face. 

He drops his load on their wooden table and sits down on a chair. Krolia looks up at him then, smile on her face as she pushes Indy off her. She stands and heads toward the table, eyes on the dinner Keith has brought.

“Space armadillo, hm?” Krolia comments as she rolls up her sleeves to wash her hands. “Tough catch.”

Keith beams proudly. “Couldn’t have done it without Indy,” he says, wiggling his toes to tickle Indigo, who has curled up on top of Keith’s feet. 

As his mother cooks up dinner, Keith thinks of his loyal space wolf. He’s never had a pet before, but Keith knows that Indy’s more than just a pet. She’s practically family at this point. During these twenty one months, Keith’s seen the beautiful creature grow. He remembers the first time she did her flash teleportation trick, how surprised she’d been, and how she’s mastered that ability before Keith’s eyes.

Keith’s so proud of her, and if he stops to think about it, he’s also proud of himself. It’s almost been two years since the start of this mission, and he can honestly say that this is one of the experiences that he knows he can divide his history upon. His life will forever be divided B.S.W and A.S.W (Before Space Whale and After Space Whale). Though his time here has been mostly uneventful, on the physical action part, he’s been through a lot, emotionally speaking.

He thinks about it while he has dinner, staying quiet throughout the whole thing. Keith thinks of how he’s not the same person he was when he first hopped on this whale, how he’s more patient now, more determined, more confident, stronger. As he chews on a bone thoughtfully, his mind wanders towards Krolia. She’s been a major catalyst for his growth, Keith knows. He’s opened up now, he’s more trusting now, and it’s partially because of how his mother now knows him better than anyone, and vice versa.

Keith smiles at her across the table. She shoots him a confused but happy smile back as she stands up, clearing up the plates from the table. Keith is watching her dump the leftovers on their compost pile when he begins to speak, tongue warm and loose. And Krolia listens, like she always does. She listens to him talk about the paladins-- his friends. She listens to him tell stories he’s told her before, like the time Lance got accidentally drunk on Nunvill. She listens when they’re stories they’ve lived through the time flashes before, like the time the castle attacked them because of Sendak’s crystal. She listens to him when he’s missing his team, his brother, his friends. She listens to him when he is stressing about his future in Black and facing Shiro’s glowing eyes. She listens to him when he’s frustrated about the time Keith feels they’ve wasted on this mission when so much more could be going on out  _ there _ . 

Krolia listens. She always does. And Keith never knew how much it helped to just talk about it with someone who is always  _ there _ .

After Keith gets ready for bed, slipping into his cot, Keith stares up at the cave ceiling. In the darkness, when Keith has a belly full of food and heart full of warmth, he thinks about the waves. The waves. The waves. The waves of his future that always seem to fill him to the brim with excitement and determination. 

As Keith stares at the ceiling, he yawns. His jaw doesn’t pop or lock when he opens it too wide anymore. He’s stopped gritting his teeth in his sleep. He turns his body to his side, facing Krolia who just settled down beside him.

He’s open.

“Kroli-- _ mom,” _ Keith speaks up, voice a little hoarse. The words he’s never said before have crawled up his throat, and in the darkness, Keith says, “I love you.”

  　 　 +  　　 　　　　　 　　  
　  
* 　　  　   
✵   · · +    
✵   * 　.　  　　✵ 　  
  ✫ ✵  　 * 　　　　　 ˚    
✺  　✵ ·

 

 

Keith’s neck is covered in cold sweat when he wakes up. The flash has come in his sleep, slipping his memory into his nightmares. Krolia is still asleep in her cot, a frown on her sleeping face. 

Keith sits up and Indy automatically moves to sit beside him, pressing her side to Keith’s comfortingly. He sighs, wrapping his arms around her body and burying his face in her fur. In his dream, in his vision he’s seen himself piloting Black, pursuing Lotor despite his team’s protests. He hates thinking about that, hates how often it comes up to remind him of his failure. It was his first time as the Black Paladin and he fucked up. It’s been two years, but it still bothers him. It still stings, thinking of how he failed his team, of how badly he doesn’t want for it to happen again. That had been part of the reason Keith had given up his place as the leader of Voltron so easily, returning the Black Lion to Shiro. Now, when Keith thinks about Shiro’s glowing purple eyes, he wonders if he made the right decision, leaving Black.

He thinks about it, agonizes over it, until it’s light outside again and the stars around him fade.

 

. . . 　　    ✧    
　　 *  　　   
　　   ˚    
. 　　　 　　　 　  *    
  　　 ✫ 　　　　 ✫ 　　   
·    ✫ 　　　　　 　.  * ✦

 

Keith remembers watching old spy films with his father when he was young. Keith loved Saturday mornings with his father, curled up in their lumpy couch eating a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. His dad didn’t usually let him watch those kind of movies without him there. He always said Keith was too young for them, but Keith insisted and his father eventually gave in, every single time. Keith just loved those films so much. James Bond, Mission Impossible, Bourne. They were always exciting, always seemed fun on TV. The running, the explosions, the action. Keith felt drawn to them since he can remember.

Real life is so much different though. War is so much different.

Keith is young, he knows, especially now that he’s met aliens-- people who have lived millennia. But sometimes, despite his youth, Keith feels like he’s seen too much. But his mother, she grew up in war, has lived with it, beside it for her entire life. So it’s not surprising to Keith at all to see so many war flashbacks whenever the light of the dark star showed them Krolia’s life. 

Keith finds himself in a yellow planet. The sky is yellow, the ground is mustard-colored and its two suns make everything golden. Keith exhales. It’s beautiful, like the perfect setting for a movie’s happy ending, not the scene before him.

Krolia is on her knees, curled over a body, limp, lifeless. Keith notices the stream of tears rolling down her cheeks, the stains of blood on her armor, on the ground. 

“Q’ir,” she’s saying, shaking the body in her arms. It’s the body of a young Marmora soldier, broken after a fight. “Q’ir,” Krolia keeps saying, over and over, like a litany, like a prayer. “Q’ir, please.”

Krolia brought her hand to the soldier’s face, and Keith gasps when he recognizes her. He’s seen this soldier before in Krolia’s flashbacks, always at her side, fiery, loyal and beautiful. Keith remembers her cocky grin, her bright yellow eyes, full of light and life, and it pains him to see her look so differently. So cold. 

“Commander Krolia,” another soldier says, crouching to Krolia’s level. He puts his gun on the ground and a hand on Krolia’s shoulder. She doesn’t react, her eyes fixed on the body in her arms. 

“I’m so sorry, Q’ir,” she whispers. “I failed you.”

“Commander,” the soldier says again, more urgently. 

“I told her-- I told her to--” Krolia starts, voice wracked with guilt. 

“Commander,” the soldier repeats, cutting her off. His voice is soft, full of empathy but still laced with urgency. “We must keep going.”

Krolia squeezes her eyes shut then, taking a deep shaky breath. It takes her a few seconds, but she opens her eyes then and lays the body on the ground carefully, gently. She stands up, grabbing her blade from where it had been stabbed into the ground. She wipes her face with her sleeve and turns to look around her, where two more soldiers have gathered. They were all looking at her expectantly, awaiting instruction. Her face hardens with determination.

“We’ll come back for her,” she announces. Her subordinates nod. “But for now, we’ll split into teams of two, no one is alone this time--”

It’s then when Keith and Krolia are flung back into the present, back to their seats around their fireplace, back to Indy who presses her body to Krolia’s. It’s as if Indy always knows who needs her more after the flashes and moves to comfort them. Krolia strokes their space wolf’s ears absentmindedly, eyes far away. 

Keith brings his knees to his chest and his eyes to the fire. Its steady crackling is soothing, easing the knot in Keith’s throat. It’s at times like this when Keith wonders if the dark star is sentient somehow, because it doesn’t feel like this flashback is coincidence. Not after the one he had last night. It feels like the star is trying to tell him something, and it honestly wouldn’t surprise him after having encountered sentient planets, huge space monsters and telepathic space mice. 

After a while, Keith clears his throat, catching Krolia’s attention. “I’m sorry about Q’ir,” he tells her.

His mother’s eyes soften. She gives him a small smile and a nod in return. She usually doesn’t say much after flashbacks like these. They’re hard on her, Keith knows, he just wishes he knew how to help her better.

He stands up and heads inside their house, shuffling his feet towards the kitchen. He’s carrying two cups of water when he comes back outside, handing one to Krolia who murmurs her thanks. Keith drops his body to the ground, sitting down next to his mother. Indy uncurls herself from her spot on Krolia’s other side to nestle herself between them. Indy sets her head on top of Keith’s knee, and Keith moves his hand to play with Indy’s fur while he looks at his mother.

And there, by the light of the fire, Keith feels proud. He’s proud of his mother and of being her son. It surprises him a little, seeing as how he used to feel really self conscious about his Galra heritage at times. But Krolia, she’s such a strong woman and such a good leader and Keith admires her for that. Especially because she seems to be able to do what he couldn’t: keep going after failing her team. 

“How did you-- how did you keep going?” Keith asks, awe dripping from his voice. “Even after that?”  _ After your orders had brought your team to that point? After such a failure, after holding Q’ir’s body in your arms? _

Keith doesn’t say it, but he knows Krolia heard it anyway. She sighs, eyes flickering like the fire in front of them, and cocks an eyebrow at Keith.

“They trusted me,” Krolia replies, a crooked smile gracing her lips. She speaks to Keith with confidence, as if that is the only logical explanation. “They trusted that I was smart enough to come up with the best plan, that I was smart enough to learn from my mistakes, smart enough to protect them. I had to keep going to honor that trust.” 

Keith thinks of his team, of Pidge’s warnings, of Allura’s hesitance, of Lance. Lance putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder, eyes warm and honest, declaring his trust.

He feels like he’s been suckerpunched.

Keith thinks about it for days. His mother’s words, echoing in his mind.  _ Honor that trust. _  He wonders if he’s capable, if his insecurities and hot headedness will always get the better of him. He wonders if his team even trusts him anymore, after having left them and disappointed them. 

He’s glad that he doesn’t have to deal with another emotionally heavy flash for a few weeks. Instead, the star shows them memories of Krolia with Keith’s father on Earth, of training at the Castle of Lions, of the sea and the waves, the waves, the waves. 

The next time it happens is while Keith and Krolia are sparring. It’s a short flash, not even a full ten ticks, and they’re back on the space whale before they know it. Keith refuses to let the flash affect his rhythm, to let the anxiety that it brought with it lower his guard. And that was the smart decision too, since Krolia attacks without hesitation, aiming a punch to the side of his head. Keith blocks it instinctively, refusing to think about the Black Lion, about the flash of the Galra fleet he’s going to encounter soon.

Krolia, however, has other plans in mind, and Keith can tell by the look in her eyes. He feints and tries to catch Krolia’s arm, but he fails. She’s incredibly fast, it can be so frustrating at times.

“That was,” a grunt, “quite a fleet, huh?” Krolia grins, aiming a kick at Keith. He blocks it and quickly counters, landing a soft blow on Krolia’s side.

“Yeah,” Keith agrees breathlessly, adjusting his stance.

“What are you gonna do, hm?” Krolia asks, feinting with another kick and delivering a sharp whack on the head instead. That hurt.

“I don’t know,” Keith says through gritted teeth, hand catching Krolia’s arm as it retreats after her blow. He grips it tighter, pulling with all his might to flip Krolia over and have her land on her back on their makeshift sparring mat.

She sighs, sitting up and running a hand through her sweaty bangs. She seems to be done sparring, so Keith sits down next to her, breathing hard. 

“You gotta play it smart,” Krolia tells him without looking at him, eyes on Indy using teleportation to chase a space rabbit. Keith just nods, knowing she was gonna elaborate. “Whenever you’re faced with a tough situation like that, the key,” she says, “is perspective.” 

Keith shifts his position, placing his arm on his propped up knee to look at his mother better. He raises an eyebrow curiously.

“In the middle of a fight, even through the heat of it, you must keep it cool enough to be able to use your perspective,” she continues, greeting Indy as she sits down next to Krolia on the mat. Krolia usually doesn’t let her hang out with them on the mat cause her claws have destroyed it too many times, but today she doesn’t seem to mind. “You must be able to be calm enough to see into the past-- your experience, and into the future-- your plan. You also have to understand your size, your strength, your resources--your present.” 

She grunts as she moves to stand up, dusting herself off. She looks down at Keith and keeps going, “Especially when you’re piloting Black.”

Keith takes a deep breath, trying to relieve the anxiety that fired up after that sentence. He clenches his fist and nods, vowing to think it through later at length. “Yeah.” 

Krolia stretches, the joints of her back cracking. She extends a hand at Keith with a crooked smile. “Are you ready to go again?”

Keith just grins and takes her hand, gearing up for the fight.

 

⊹  · 　　　.· 　  ⋆    
　 ⋆ 　 ✹ . .  　　    
*    　   
 　 　·    
˚ 　　     
  
*

 

“Alright guys,” Keith is saying, his grip on Black’s handle tightening. “On me.”

A part of him is shocked at how quickly the team disengages from their individual fights at Keith’s command. They drop everything to follow him. Keith feels momentarily struck, but he grits his teeth. Now is not the time.

“Form Voltron!” Keith exclaims, and becomes one with his peers before the light from the dark star flashes and he’s back on the space whale. Beside him, Krolia sighs, lowering her gun as their prey had escaped during the flash. 

She flips her gun and shoulders it. “They trust you a lot,” she comments, eyes somewhere else as she always does whenever she drops comments like this. 

They  _ do, _ they still do. They still trust him. It makes him feel warm, comforted. His insecure thoughts about not being trusted anymore start dissolving in his mind. He thinks of Shiro, asking him to pilot Black if anything were to happen to him. He thinks of Pidge, Hunk and Allura congratulating him when he first stepped out of Black with the burden of leadership in his back. He thinks of Lance, his touch on Keith’s shoulder burning hot, his blue eyes wide with sincerity. He trusts him. They all trust him.

Keith sheathes his blade and puts his hands on his hips. He’s biting his lip. “They--they do,” he says, a touch breathless. 

“What are you gonna do about it?” she asks, testing him. 

Keith looks up at his mother with a grin on his face, feeling something big shift inside of him. “You’ve said it yourself,” he tells her. “I’m gonna honor that trust.”

 

˚  · 　*  · · 　 ·　　*    
 　 　　　　　 * . 　 ·   
 ˚ 　　  　　 　 ⋆ 　   
　 　　　　 　 .  ˚ 　   
　　　　　 ·  ✵ 　　 　　 ·

 

“Keith!” Krolia exclaims. “I think we’ve made it.”

Keith looks up from a very tired Indy. They’ve just finished their customary ten laps around their space whale. His mother looks breathless, but not because of the exercise. She’s looking up at the changing sky. They’re here. 

“It’s been two years,” he breathes out. And twenty seven days, but, who’s counting? Keith can hardly believe it. “We can finally finish our mission.”

The thought sinks on Keith’s stomach, making it squirm with anxiety and excitement. His mind is reeling. They’re so close, they’re so close. So close to finally getting off this space whale, to the source of the mysterious quintessence, to getting back to the action. He’s so close to Shiro and the glowing eyes that haunt Keith’s dreams, to Shiro charging towards him with seemingly murderous intent. He’s so close to piloting Black, so close to the Paladins… he’s so close to his destiny. It makes adrenaline spike in his veins, burning with worry and fear and something else that Keith can’t quite describe. 

He thinks of the waves.

When they head to the planet, Indigo comes with them. Krolia and Keith didn’t talk about it before, but they didn’t even need to. Indy’s family now. The soft pattering of her steps beside him is more comforting to him than he expected it to be. They walk together for hours until they find her, the Altean.

They talk. Romelle tells them her story, and when they find the supposed colony, Keith is torn between disgust and anxiety, watching some of the puzzle pieces come together in his mind. He feels so repulsed by Lotor’s actions, the sparks of anger and indignation start lighting a fire in his heart. He’s worried about his teammates, because he’s aware of the alliance. He’s stressed, thinking of his friends at the castle having to live with that monster. 

They head back to the Altean pod, and Keith straps himself into the pilot’s seat. His fingers wrap themselves around the controls, gripping them tightly. They lock on the Castle’s signal, thanks to a software Pidge had made, in case he ever needed to find them quick. He turns to Krolia and nods. They’re doing this.

Keith takes a deep breath, the oxygen making the fire in his heart burn hotter. Then they fly.

After two years of not touching a ship, getting back on a pilot’s seat is exhilarating. Flying across star systems, across galaxies fills Keith with an infinite sense of freedom. It’s something that’s never getting old, Keith knows. His heart is pounding incredibly fast, fueled by pure adrenaline. 

“That’s a real Altean castleship,” Romelle breathes out in awe once it comes into sight. “I’d only ever read about them in our history books.”

“It’s quite a ship, huh?” Krolia says, shooting a small smile at their new companion. 

“It’s beautiful,” Romelle says.

“Wait till you see the Lions,” Keith tells her slowing down near the castle. He’s right in assuming that they’re already in its range, a screen pops up showing Shiro using his authoritative voice, asking them to identify themselves.

“Shiro, it’s Keith,” he says, eyes flickering to the image. Shiro’s eyes are still dark grey. He points his gaze somewhere else, trying to shake the anxious feeling that began creeping up on him. Keith doesn’t have time for this, not now.

_ “Does he look bigger to you, guys?” _ a familiar voice says, crackling from the comms. Keith’s heart does a little lurch.  _ “He’s bigger, right?” _

Oh, Keith definitely doesn’t have time for this.

When they learn that Lotor has entered the quintessence field, Keith finds the fire in his chest spreading throughout his body. Anger and anxiety make his blood boil. He lands the pod in the hangar and he jumps off, feet hitting the ground softly, silently.

Keith finds himself staring at the team in front of him, bathed by the castle’s cold blue light. They’re all here, save Allura. Shiro’s eyes are still dark grey. Keith feels his jaw tensing up.

“Keith,” Shiro breathes out with relief, eyes impossibly warm. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Hold on,” Lance says, stepping towards him. Keith’s eyes flicker to the Cuban boy, dressed in blue. Blue armor, blue eyes--the soft hand curling around Keith’s wrist, the fireworks in Lance’s eyes. Keith has to look away, but Lance continues. “How do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?”

Keith is standing right in front of him now. Lance is so close. Keith sees the soft dusting of freckles on his cheeks, can practically see them filled with laughter, with the waves crashing behind him. Keith doesn’t-- he doesn’t--

“I don’t have time for this, Lance,” Keith blurts out, hoping that the urgency in his voice masks the emotional turmoil happening underneath.

“Hey everybody, Keith’s back!” Lance says, voice dripping with sarcasm.

For some reason, Keith’s mind keeps coming back to the waves.

He stands in front of his team, his family, his hands curling into fists. He has a mission. He doesn’t have time for this, this strange breathless feeling that curls itself around him.

So Keith takes a deep breath, locks his jaw, and pushes it down.

 

“Lance is right,” Shiro is saying, his grey eyes alight. “You have changed.”

Keith gives his brother a little half smile. “Time is different where I’ve been,” he explains. There is just no other way to describe it. He understands that it’s only been a few weeks since the team had last seen Keith, which isn’t really a surprise. The dark star plays with time. It’s the only logical explanation.

Krolia steps up from behind him then, heading towards Shiro. It makes Keith feel warm inside, that his mother is thanking Shiro for everything he’s done for Keith. He loves that she’s extending a hand out to Shiro, steady and strong, because she knows how much Shiro means to Keith. And that she’s doing this despite having seen the glowing purple eyes. Keith clenches his fist. Shiro’s eyes are still grey.

He doesn’t really know  _ why _ he hesitates a little when he introduces her to the team as his mother. It might have been some leftover self consciousness about his Galra heritage, which frustrates him to no end. He really thought he was already over it. But before he has a proper chance to kick himself internally for it, Lance speaks up.

Whenever Lance speaks, it’s impossible to not pay attention. Keith has learned that over time. He is loud, expressive, drawing everyone’s eyes to him with his big hand gestures and with his honest voice. Lance is just so… genuine. Yeah, he’s so genuine in his confusion, in his happiness, in his flirting, in his little freak-outs like this one. For a second, Keith’s worries uncurl from their tight grip around his bones. Lance is just so warm and bright and familiar, Keith has to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling.

Yeah, Keith’s back. He’s finally back.

 

*  · ✵  　 *　    
 　　　 　　　　　 　　　   .    
  
 ✹ 　 ·    
　 ⊹   *    
  
　 　  ·

 

Keith’s exhausted. His bones ache, but not as much as his heart. His jaw is locked.

After having lived atop a space whale under the light of a dark star, Keith has spent days that lasted weeks. But today has got to have been the longest day of his life. 

When he flew away from the colony that morning with Romelle and Krolia, he never expected  _ this _ . He knew some things that were coming. And he thought he had prepared himself for it. But he didn’t. And now his brain feels like it’s about to explode, thoughts forming and dissolving at light speed and he’s unable to rest, despite the bone deep tiredness he is carrying.

The Black Lion lowers his head when Keith’s in range, letting him climb up his robotic lion’s head. Black knows Keith doesn’t want to go  _ inside,  _ he just needs a place to think. So Black is letting Keith sit on top of him as they both watch the red sun set in the planet they’d set up temporary camp in.

He’s still wearing his Paladin suit, but his armor is off, stored somewhere in Black’s belly. The black cloth is supposed to keep his body in careful homeostasis, but Keith still feels cold. He draws one of his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around it, placing his head on top of it. He closes his eyes, hard, wishing he could stop thinking about it

_ And I should have abandoned you, just like your parents did. _

He never expected to hear those words coming out of Shiro’s mouth. He now knows it wasn’t actually Shiro, but the words don’t leave Keith’s mind.

_ Broken. Worthless. _

Keith clenches his fist, trying to will the burn in his eyes  _ back. _ He doesn’t want to cry. 

_ Shiro, please, you’re my brother. I love you. _

Keith wonders if Shiro will remember that when he wakes up. He’s been asleep inside a healing pod for the past few hours. Allura thinks it’s gonna take a few weeks before he can actually come out, because apparently, the clone body’s cells need to take in Shiro’s quintessence, his essence and that’s a long process. Allura has no idea if the memories will be retained within Shiro’s new body, so Keith will have to wait until he wakes up to tell him. He’s never told him that before. Shiro needs to know. He needs to hear Keith say it. 

His mind unhelpfully provides him with a flash of the glowing purple eyes, Shiro’s growls, Shiro’s words...  _ The team’s already gone. I saw to it myself.  _

Keith touches his burn mark on his cheek. It’s still sensitive and raw, sending sparks of pain through Keith’s nerves. There’s something running alongside it, neurotransmitters firing with it. Keith hates this feeling.

Hopelessness.

He remembers feeling it as he was free falling into the atmosphere, giving in to gravity, no chance of surviving. He remembers thinking,  _ this is it. This is where it ends. There’s no reason to try. Shiro is gone. The team is gone. This is it. _

The light of the cold white planet had been almost blinding, so bright it reminds him of the dark star. The memory comes to him just like a flash from it. _ I will never give up on you, but more importantly, you can’t give up on yourself. _

Keith feels his breathing start to become erratic, breaths coming in gasps and gulps. He’s feeling overwhelmed, two parts of himself battling in his mind. Shame versus Pride. Hopelessness versus Hope. Relief versus Anxiety. 

There’s so much to do, there’s so much that could go wrong. With Shiro in a temporary coma, someone’s gonna have to lead. And everyone knows it’s gonna be him. And it’s like Indigo can sense his mounting distress because all of a sudden, she’s there. She teleported herself right in front of Keith, nestling between his legs, covering Keith’s torso with warmth and fur, eyes glowing like the sunset.

Keith takes a deep breath, locking his jaw out of habit. It’s on that exact same moment when Indigo moves, pressing her nose Keith’s skin, right over the point where his temporal meets his maxilar in a strained embrace.

 

The wind blows.

 

It’s cold.

 

Keith opens his mouth and allows himself to cry. His tears carry with them everything Keith felt that day, loosening the knot in his throat, the pressure in his chest, the strained symphony of his thoughts. His tears are warm and heavy, and they’re dampening Indy’s fur. The wolf lets him. She lets him wrap his arms around her, lets him tangle his fingers in the fur of her back. She stays there, unmoving, and Keith tries to match his breathing with hers. Slow. Steady.

He doesn’t know how long he cries, but he feels better after it. He knows his eyes are probably gonna be red and his face swollen, but his limbs feel loose and his chest feels warm and his brain is temporarily silent. He sighs, and Indy moves to curl her body up beside him. They stay there for a while, listening to the quiet sounds of the strange planet’s evening. Keith thinks Indy has fallen asleep until her ears suddenly perk up.

There are some sounds coming from their camp below. 

Keith sits up and crawls towards Black’s nose, to catch a glimpse of whatever is happening down there. Indy leans out with him, equally curious, both on all fours, trying to see who was producing those strained sounds and grunts.

“No,  _ no-- _ ” a familiar voice is saying, and Keith’s eyes find him immediately. There he is, Lance, still in his Paladin armor, trying to push a cow off his lion. Keith’s lips twitch. “You… hmph...  _ have _ to  _ get out _ , girl.”

Lance has brought Kaltenecker with him, the cow they found years ago at a space mall. For some reason, Keith feels himself go soft, dropping his body on his elbows like he does when he planks to keep watching the scene unfold in front of him with a small smile.

“You _ freaking… _ nnnghhhh…  _ pooped _ inside Red!” Lance exclaims, his back to the cow’s behind. “She isn’t too happy about that, you know.”

The cows just moos in response, still unmoving. Keith sees the moment Lance decides to change tactics. He can see it, even from up here, the way his face lights up with an idea. And then he’s running back into his lion and coming back outside with his arms full of grass and hay. He speeds past Kaltenecker, dropping his load a few ways away from the ramp’s end on the clearing. Lance crouches a little then, hands clapping on his thighs as if he were talking to a dog or something.

“C’mere, girl,” he starts saying in a soft voice, patting his thighs. “There’s some food down here! And plenty of place to  _ shit _ without having Red start roaring in my  _ head _ .” Lance’s exasperation can be heard so clearly at the end.

The cow just blinks. Keith can barely bite back his snort. The Red Lion’s Paladin lets out a noise of frustration, pinching his nose with two fingers as he looks up at the sky in exasperation. After a sigh, he drags his feet to the start of the ramp and plops down next to his cow, his back leaning towards it.

“You, Kaltenecker,” Lance says, “are fucking impossible.”

Keith decides to cup a hand around his mouth when he calls out to Lance to make his presence known. “Need some help down there?”

Lance’s head shoots up, trying to find the source of Keith’s voice. When Lance spots Keith and his cocky half smile, the Red Paladin smiles but quickly tries to cover it up with a frown. Keith’s seen it though. There’s no taking it back.

“What makes you think I need help?” Lance calls back. His eyes narrow. “Wait-- how long have you been watching?”

“Long enough,” Keith replies as Black starts lowering his head to the ground. Keith and Indy hop off without a sound, like the good hunters they are.

“Well, Kaltenecker and I are just fine,” Lance says, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest. Keith cocks his head with a soft smile. He--he’s missed Lance, and--and his stupid, silly stubbornness that could only rival Keith’s own.

“Proud as ever, aren’t you?” Keith comments, teasing. His steps are taking him up Red’s ramp, Indigo beside him.

“What are you doing?” Lance asks as Keith nears, beginning to frown. “And why--why are you looking at me like that?”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like--like that!” Lance replies, oh so helpfully, gesturing towards his face.

Keith’s lips just curl into a wider smile and turns to look at Indy beside him. “We have an idea.”

Indy yips happily, wagging her tail.

Lance shoots him a pout, arms still crossed. “Oh yeah?”

“You wanna get her off Red, don’t you?” Keith replies, feeling Lance’s eyes on him as he walks past the Cuban boy to stop behind Kaltenecker.

“Whatever it is, it’s not gonna work,” Lance replies, placing a hand on Kaltenecker’s back and leaning on her. “She’s an unmovable object.”

Keith just grins. “Well, you’re looking at an unstoppable force.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Shut the fuck up.”

Keith cracks his knuckles and kneels down. He cups his hand around his mouth, leaning to whisper instructions into his wolf’s ear. Lance’s eyes never leave them, narrowing in suspicion and curiosity. 

“Alright,” Keith says, running his fingers down Indy’s back before he stands. “Go.”

The wolf crouches down, ready to attack. She gives a mighty, serious growl, startling Lance, and the cow he is leaning on. She pounces, and Lance makes an agitated noise when the wolf’s paw extends itself to brush Kaltenecker’s tail (without using her claws). The cow gives a loud moo, and runs. Keith doesn’t think he’s ever seen her move as fast as she just did.

Lance stumbles then, his balance off after his cow pretty much sprinted from under him. Out of instinct, Keith moves to place a hand on Lance’s chest, stabilizing him. He feels Lance’s hand on Keith’s back to catch himself. The touch burns.

“You-- you--” Lance says, looking up at Keith and waving a finger at his face. 

“Yes?” 

“You and your wolf  _ scared _ my cow!” Lance accuses, pressing the tip of his finger against Keith’s chest. 

“It got the job done, didn’t it?” Keith says, unable to stop himself from smiling, cocky.

“You’ve traumatized her!” Lance screeches.

“Hah,” Keith chuckles, eyes sliding to the cow on the ground. “You sure about that?”

Lance turns around and he finds his cow on the clearing, mouth full of hay and grass. She looks as calm and unexpressive as ever. Keith notices how Lance’s cheeks start heating up. Lance steps away from Keith then, putting his hands on his hips and turning to look at Indigo. The wolf is back to wagging her tail, tongue out happily beside Keith.

“What’s her name anyway?” Lance asks, smoothly changing the subject.

“Indy,” he says as his wolf presses her nose to his palm.

He doesn’t miss the way Lance’s pout cracks into a smile.

“Really?” Lance eyes, eyes alight. “Like Indiana Jones? You know, his dog?”

“No,” Keith replies, his cheeks heating up for some reason. How did he  _ know? _ “Her name is Indigo.”

“Don’t lie,” Lance says, almost rolling his eyes. 

Keith would never admit it to anyone, but he’d picked the name Indigo  _ because _ you could shorten it to Indy.  _ Because _ of Indiana Jones, since the old films’ hero reminded him of his dad whenever he wore one of those hats. There’s no way he’s gonna tell Lance that though.

“We all know you’re a secret nerd,” Lance continues.

“Shut up,” Keith says, watching as his wolf sniffs on Lance’s legs curiously.

“Well,  _ I’m _ gonna call her Jonesy then,” Lance says, crouching down to scratch behind his wolf’s ears. How did he  _ know?  _ Indy’s gonna be in love with Lance for this, he knows. “Since you refuse to acknowledge her real namesake.”

“Her name is  _ Indigo, _ ” Keith repeats, rolling his eyes at Lance. “She’s blue, so, Indigo.”

“That’s a shitty name,” Lance announces. “She likes Jonesy better, don’t you, girl?” he coos, running his fingers through Indy’s fur. The wolf yips happily in reply. That traitor.

Lance turns to Keith then, a bright smile on his face and a proud look in his eye. Keith refuses to think about the way his heart jumps at the sight. “See?” Lance says, cockily.

Keith clears his throat, refusing to answer. Lance just smiles at Keith, knowing that he’s won… whatever this is. He straightens up and mirrors Keith’s pose.

“What are you doing up anyway?” Lance asks. “After the day we’ve had, I thought you’d be asleep like everyone else.”

“I should be asking you the same thing,” Keith replies.

Lance’s bayard materializes in his hand and shows it to Keith. “I’ve got first watch, remember?”

“Oh,” Keith says, moving a hand to scratch the back of his head. They’d decided that earlier, when the team reconvened to think about their next move. “Right.”

“Yeah,” Lance says. “So, unless you wanna stay here and distract me from it, you should probably head to sleep, or something.” Lance’s eyes search his face carefully, catching the redness under Keith’s eyes, the puffiness of his face. He looks like he wants to say something, opens his mouth and closes it. Eventually he settles by saying, “You look… tired.”

Keith shifts his weight between the balls of his feet, feeling a little self conscious about his swollen face. And he has almost forgotten about the exhaustion in his bones until Lance mentions the prospect of sleep. He runs his fingers through his hair and gives Lance a tired smile. But wait-- distract him?

“I distract you?” Keith asks, brows furrowing.

“I--I--” Lance starts, his face morphing to show a panicked expression before it settles on a pout again. “You’re-- _ yes, _ okay. Just, just leave. Rest, or whatever.”

“Alright,” Keith says as they both start going down the ramp. He can’t help the smile that’s playing on his lips.

“And-- and stop looking at me like that!” Lance says again, jumping to solid ground.

“Alright,” Keith repeats, still smiling.

Lance rolls his eyes. “You’re infuriating,” he tells Keith.

“I know.”

“God, just--” Lance starts, his hands talking alongside him, fingers curling and uncurling expressively. “Go to bed, Keith.”

Keith yawns just then and eyes Black beside them. “Alright,” he says once more. “Good night, Lance. Good luck on your, um, watch.” 

Lance gives him a soft smile. “Good night,” he says. “And thank you, you know, for...” He nods towards Kaltenecker.

“It’s no problem,” Keith says, watching as Lance starts to jog towards his cow, as he sits down on a rock next to her. He turns his bayard into his gun and sets it down next to him. Keith’s breath catches, and he doesn’t know why. So he just looks away, heading towards Black.

His lion lets him in immediately, and Keith moves from Black’s head towards his body. He steps into the lion’s power core room and immediately notices Krolia and Romelle are already there, fast asleep on the air mattresses they’d brought from the Castle. They’d all set temporary camp inside their lion’s power core room, since it’s warm and safe and it’s pretty much the only option. They hadn’t found any caves or places that could serve as shelter, didn’t have any tents or anything to set up proper camp. It’s the only thing they could come up with, and it’ll have to do until they meet Matt in the Calpex system where they’ll find the supplies they need for the journey to Earth.

Keith sits down on his bed, not even bothering to change out of his Paladin suit and puts his head in the pillow. He’s so grateful that his bed’s already installed, and he makes a mental note to thank Krolia for it later. Next to the air mattress, Indy blinks at him and Keith sighs and scoots over, allowing the wolf to curl up against Keith’s chest.

“Just be careful with your claws, hm?” Keith mumbles sleepily, wrapping an arm around Indy. The wolf snorts in reply. 

Keith sighs, allowing his eyes to slide shut. 

There’s so much to do, there’s so much that could go wrong.

And despite that, or because of that, Keith falls asleep with a smile on his face and dreams of the sea.

  
. 　 　 　   
　 ·  ˚  　　　　　　   
  ⊹ 　　 ˚   　　　    
　　　 ˚   ✦ 　　 　 +  ✷ 　   
　 .　　　　 　  　　　   
· . 　　　　　　　　　 　          
· ✷  　　　　　 　 ✷

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! please let me know what you thought of this <3


	3. part iii: las gaviotas (the seagulls)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pit stop at the Calpex system on their way to Earth. Under the light of the twelve Silvamian moons, Lance and Keith talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god guys........ this fic is getting out of my hands. it was only supposed to be three parts long but now...
> 
> anyways i hope you guys enjoy this :D

**part iii: las gaviotas**

**(the seagulls)**

 

When they get to Silvam, in the heart of the Calpex system, Matt is waiting for them by the outskirts of a huge city. He’s standing in the middle of a clearing, a few miles away from civilization, when the team lands their lions in formation around the older Holt. 

Keith sighs, standing up from the pilot’s seat within Black, and stretches a little, feeling his back pop. It has been another long day, their longest trip yet since they left the first planet. Keith has no idea how many vargas he spent piloting, but god does it feel good to finally stand up.

He smiles a little as he moves to place his hand on the wall by the door, hearing it hiss open in front of him. “Good job, boy,” Keith whispers to his lion. He must be as exhausted as Keith feels. “Thank you.”

Black purrs inside Keith’s head in response, spreading warmth throughout his body. He pats the wall a few times, softly, as Black lowers his head unto the ground. Keith jogs out, letting his body fall heavily on his steps down the ramp. Indigo teleports herself to Keith’s side, paws pattering beside him. He spots Pidge, sprinting out her lion and towards her brother, jumping on him and wrapping herself around him like a koala. Matt laughs, spinning his sister around before he sets her on the ground. The scene makes Keith smile.

His eyes find Lance then, as they seem to have been making a habit out of it. Keith can’t help it, no matter what he’s doing. Whether it’s while they’re training or while they’re eating or while they’re plotting out their next move, his violet eyes always end up sliding to where the Cuban boy is at. He just feels drawn to Lance, like a moth to a flame.

He starts noticing the little details. He’s learned all of the lines that Lance’s mouth can make, all the shapes Lance’s thin brows can take, becoming fluent in their silent language. Keith’s seen the way Lance’s cheeks curve with his smile, carving a dimple into his left cheek. And he’s also seen the bags under Lance’s eyes, the tired look on them, the way he seems to step back sometimes, the way he’s quieter than before.

Right now though, Lance catches Keith looking and shoots the Black Paladin a bright smile. He jumps off Red’s ramp into the grass, and Indy automatically teleports herself to greet Lance. He leans down and scratches behind Indy’s ears, smiling at the wolf fondly. Keith feels his stomach jump a little at the sight, especially when Lance looks up to him and keeps on grinning. 

“I thought we’d never get here,” Lance says to Keith, as he and the wolf jog to catch up to him. He looks back at the Red Lion, a fond worried expression on his face. “Red’s exhausted,” Lance comments.

After the prolonged exposure to the Quintessence field, and without having anywhere to charge the Lions’ power cores, it’s to be expected. No Lion is at their 100%, but Allura, Coran and Hunk are going to be working on it while they’re on the planet. They’ve promised the Lions are going to be back to normal in a week or so.

Keith sighs. “Black is, too.”

“Good thing we’re all resting for a couple of days,” Lance says, moving to run his hands through his hair. Keith hums in response. He is happy about that too.

“--it me? Or did you grow shorter since the last time I saw you?” Matt is saying as Keith and Lance walk up to them.

Pidge removes the hand Matt has placed on her head with a pout. “The fuck are you on,” she says, trying to sound angry but her happiness at seeing her brother again is impossible to mask. 

Matt raises a hand to his face in alarm, faux-shocked face on. “My baby sister, cursing…” Matt says, shaking his head.

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron, I can curse if I  _ fucking _ want to,” Pidge says, lips twitching into a smile.

“Can’t win against that one, huh?” Matt laughs, moving to mess Pidge’s hair up again much to her chagrin. He looks up when he hears Keith and rest of the team come near them, smiling. “Hey guys!” he says, eyes scanning through the group before he frowns. “Where’s Shiro?”

“Inside Black,” Keith informs Matt. “He’s with my mother.”

“We figured we shouldn’t get the pod out unless we have a safe place for him,” Pidge elaborates. 

“Is he doing okay though?” Matt asks, still wearing a concerned frown for his friend.

“Yeah,” Pidge replies and Matt nods. He seems satisfied with his sister’s answer, so he turns back to the group.

“Welcome to Silvam,” he tells them, lips curling into a new smile. He starts walking west, motioning for the team to follow. Keith can’t help when notices the way Lance hangs back, looking a little out of place. He wishes he knew how to wipe that look off Lance’s face. 

“The city behind us is Aurantiaco. Nyma and Rolo are already there, picking up everything you guys said you needed. We found almost everything on the list! And I did find a place to stay for all of us. Don’t worry, it’s pretty safe. The planet’s pretty safe, I made sure of it before I picked it...”

As he talks, Matt leads the team through the blood red forest, stepping over huge roots and snapping a few twigs. Indigo makes a disgruntled noise whenever someone does that, as if she’s bothered by how  _ loud _ everyone’s being, as if that is something disrespectful for a hunter like her. Keith sees when Lance catches on to Indy’s mood, and the way he can’t cover up his snort every time Indy complains about it. And it’s so distracting, Keith doesn’t quite catch everything Matt’s saying to them. He hopes he missed none of the important parts.

Right then, they come across another clearing, smaller than the one where they’d left their lions. Keith’s eyes examine the house near the middle of it, taking in the place where they’ll be staying for the next few days. Matt steps forward, scratching the back of his head as he looks at the team nervously.

“I know it’s not much,” he says, gesturing to the cottage in front of him. It is small, but Keith can tell that everyone is charmed by its stone walls covered by overgrown red plants and its green windowsills full of yellow flowers. It paints a peaceful picture, and it’s definitely an upgrade from sleeping inside their Lions. But still, Matt seems to feel a little self conscious as he continues talking, “But the owners agreed to host us, without charge, and I figured you guys wouldn’t want to stay far from your Lions, so…”

“Thank you so much, Matt,” Allura says earnestly, stepping up towards Matt. She clasps her hands together in front of her with a smile on her face. “I think I speak for everybody when I say we’re really grateful for all that you’re doing for us. It’s been hard, since we lost the Castle...” She trails off. The space mice on her shoulder squeak sadly, but Allura quickly recovers, shooting a smile at Matt, eyeing the house. “But this is perfect.”

Keith notices the way Matt’s cheeks turn red, contrasting with the pink scar on his cheek, under Allura’s praise. “Oh, Princess,” Matt says dramatically. Before he can begin a passionate rant though, Pidge steps on his foot, hard, eliciting a pained groan from the oldest Holt and laughter from Pidge and Allura.

Keith feels his lips begin to curl into a smile until he spots Lance. He’s the only one not smiling, and that look on his face is back. Keith frowns, taking in Lance’s lined face, eyes far away. He takes a step towards him but--

He doesn’t get a chance to ask Lance if he’s doing okay, since Nyma and Rolo walk into the clearing, catching everyone’s attention. Everyone greets the two alien rebels happily, and then, the atmosphere gets louder and noisier when their hosts come out of their home to greet them. It’s an Aurantian family of five, tall, bald, friendly and really _ loud. _ Their voices are an excited, loud gurgle and the three younglings seem to be taken in by everyone, asking questions while they sniff the team around. But no one really seems to mind, all happy to be safe in a place they can rest before they head to Earth.

But still, even after they’ve had a wonderful meal and settled in, Keith can’t get his mind off the pained look on Lance’s face earlier. It’s the last thing he thinks about as he shuts his eyes and drifts to sleep.

 

✵  　　　 · 　　　　　　　  · . ✵    
　　 .  ⊹ ⊹ ✵   ✦ ·　　　    
　 　. 　　   
　　.  .    
  . 　　　   
✦  ˚ 　    
 　 ⊹

 

“Mr. Black Paladin,” a voice is saying. There are soft hands gripping his biceps, trying to shake him awake. “Mr. Black Paladin!” they say louder, tiny claws digging past the fabric of his shirt in impatience.

Keith grumbles, opening his eyes. He finds three pairs of them staring right at him, their wide yellow-purple irises wide. 

“Muka, not so hard,” Keith groans, shaking off the kid’s hands from his biceps as he sits up straighter in his chair. “And I’ve told you many times, you can call me just Keith.”

“Oh, my apologies,” the Aurantian kid says shyly, withdrawing her hands to knot her fingers together. She gives Keith an apologetic smile, all sharp teeth. “...Keith.”

“I told you not to do that,” Kuhoki, the eldest brother, hisses to Muka. His thin, long tongue darts out of his mouth, flicking his sister’s forehead with it. He has his dark-skinned arms crossed over his chest, looking genuinely scared to have offended Keith in some way. 

“S’okay,” he mumbles, standing up to stretch a little. The tension in Kuhoki’s and Muka’s shoulders dissipate and all the kids crowd around him right away. Yiku, the youngest one, curls his tiny fist around the hem of Keith’s shirt. Keith smiles down at him, patting Yiku’s smooth head softly.

He has no idea how long he’s been asleep, but by the crick in his neck, he guesses it’s been a while. It’s been six days since Team Voltron had arrived to Silvam, and Keith feels like they still haven’t had much time to rest. He’s been busy, out with Matt and Pidge as they try to reestablish their communications with the Coalition and the rebel forces. Keith’s also met with a few of the skeptical leaders of nearby systems who didn’t believe that the Castle of Lions could really be gone, or who didn’t really trust the team after the Lotor fiasco. He’s also been assisting Allura, Coran and Hunk in the Lions’ restoration.

The damage they’d taken after the fight with Lotor is bigger than they thought it would be. Allura’s really worried about how long it’s taking them to finally get the Lion’s functioning like they normally do. And Keith can’t do much but relate instructions and questions telepathically to Black about Allura’s progress and some experiments Hunk and Pidge have had in mind to upgrade the Lions. But he’s happy to help. 

Romelle is always there, too, as she has been spending her time learning about Altean engineering from Allura, Hunk and Coran, hanging out with them and the Lions almost every waking moment. Meanwhile, Nyma, Rolo and Lance have been tasked with finding the parts they’re still missing to build the Castle back in Earth. They’ve been out for almost two days, trying to find a weblum to extract some scaultrite for the new teludav. Keith and Hunk had given them some tips from their experience. And Lance had just smiled, a cocky hand on his waist, laughing as he declared his mission is a piece of cake. But still, Keith worries.

Even though they haven’t rested as they would have liked to, it still feels nice to have a base, somewhere where the team could reconvene after the day’s done. It’s not like the Castle, and they know it’s temporary, but it’s more than okay. The small house took them all by surprise, since it’s actually larger than it looks from the outside, with several landings laying under the earth. There are enough beds for everyone there, the pillows soft and the blankets warm.

Mokugi, the family’s father, has explained to them that this home used to be a safe place for refugees during the Silvamian Great War. So many people had needed a place to stay, as they wandered towards Aurantiaco with hope of creating a new life for themselves, and Yusu, his wife, had talked Mokugi into creating a safe house were people could get back on their feet. As long as they helped out with the chores, of course. And so the Paladins have also been mopping, sweeping and cleaning, helping out Yusu by washing the dishes or minding the kids while herself and Mokugi are out working in the city. 

No one seems to mind, even if the tasks are small, sometimes tiresome, and mundane. In fact, Keith knows the team doesn’t mind doing them. The atmosphere the small Aurantian family creates around their home is warm and welcoming, and he knows that it’s helping everyone heal, at least a little. He’s seen it in Allura’s smiles during dinnertime, they’re becoming more and more genuine as she’s dealing with her heartbreak over Lotor’s betrayal. He’s seen it in Romelle, working tirelessly to become someone who can help, after having felt so helpless when she found out everything that happened to her fellow Alteans. He’s seen it in Lance, too, how he’s relaxing more and smiling more, even if Keith finds that look on Lance’s face sometimes, when he thinks nobody is looking. Keith still worries.

This has probably been the first day when Keith’s been able to shed his Paladin suit and armor and  _ sit.  _ He’d gotten back from another diplomatic mission in the early hours of the morning, the two Aurantian suns still under the horizon. He’d plopped straight into his bed then, and woke up thanks to his grumbling stomach a few hours later. He’d showered and changed into his Earth clothes (despairing at the fact that his jacket no longer fits and his shirt now hugs his body tightly), had some breakfast with Mokugi and then headed to the living room where they’d installed Shiro’s healing pod in.

Krolia’s there, too. She’s almost always at Shiro’s bedside, keeping a watchful eye on him for everyone’s sake. She’s always working too, poring through report after report from the Blade. Kolivan decided to give her a break from the field after spending two years on a mission, but the Blade needs the help, so she happily takes all the paperwork while she keeps Shiro company. This is how Krolia’s coming to get to know the team better, since whenever anyone has some free time, they sit down on the second chair next to Shiro, across from Krolia, and wait for him to wake up.

And Keith had been doing that after his brunch, spending some time with his mother in the comfortable quiet. So comfortable he ended up falling asleep again, until the kids woke him up, of course.

“Mr. Black Paladin,” Yiku says, still tugging on Keith’s shirt. “You said--you said we could play with Indigo the Wolf today again.”

“Of course,” Keith says, catching Krolia smiling at him over her tablet, fondly and encouragingly. “Let’s go find her, alright?”

The kids trill in excitement, following Keith out of their home, chattering happily beside him. Once they’re out in the clearing, Keith brings two fingers to his mouth and whistles loudly. Indigo knows to come when Keith calls like this, and so she’s teleported herself in front of them. She barks, wagging her tail happily as she looks from Keith to the kids.

Indy’s really loved it here. Keith knows she’s missed a forest, and she’s been having a lot of fun with the Aurantian kids. They love to chase each other around the clearing, the kids’ quick reflexes posing an actual challenge to the teleporting blue wolf. Keith joins them sometimes, on Indy’s side, tripping the kids playfully and catching them in big hugs. It’s good fun.

Keith hasn’t really interacted with kids much before this, never having any small cousins or nieces and nephews, never having any friends who have small siblings. Playing with the Aurantian younglings has been such a joy to Keith. He enjoys watching them run around him, enjoys watching them come up with a plan and tackling him, laughing with them. Whenever Keith’s around them, he feels his heart grow lighter, his shoulders less tense. He doesn’t know if he’s actually good with children in general, or if it’s just these bright kids that bring out this side of him. He doesn’t dwell on it too much, just focusing on enjoying himself in a way he rarely allows himself to do.

They play around for an hour or so, until every kid freezes up, noses twitching. Keith tenses up a little, wondering if there is any danger near since he knows that these kids have an incredible sense of smell.

“It’s Mother!” Kuhoki exclaims, and all at once, the kids start sprinting into the house to do the chores they had put off in favor of playing with Keith and Indy. Keith chuckles a little, scratching the back of his head. 

“Good evening,” he greets sheepishly when Yusu steps into the clearing, clearly catching her kids sneaking inside the house.

“Good evening, Black Paladin,” she replies warmly, stopping next to Keith. She’s a tall woman, taller than Krolia, who dresses in yellow from head to toe, accentuating her dark skin. She looks intimidating sometimes, but she’s an incredibly kind person, Keith’s learned. There’s something familiar about her gentle gaze, about her calmness, that makes Keith feel nostalgic somehow. “How was your mission?”

“Successful,” Keith says, shooting her a smile. The alien king Keith had met up with had been a challenging guy, stubborn and weary, but Keith managed to ease his worries somehow. So he counts that as a win.

“Good,” Yusu replies, then narrows her eyes at Keith. “I see you managed to keep the kids from their chores.”

Keith finds himself start to blush and chuckle nervously. “Oh, I--uh--I,” he stutters, making Yusu laugh.

“It’s okay,” she tells him with a smile, letting Keith know she was just messing with him. “It’s good for the kids, to have you here.”

“Really?” Keith asks, nervousness dissipating. 

“Hmm,” she hums in response, shifting the basket in her arms. “Since the school period ended, I’ve noticed they’ve been growing a bit… lonely. All their friends live far from here, in the city, and we can’t afford the transport to and back often. So it’s been nice to see them happy again. Mokugi and I had no idea how to help. I can only hope they haven’t been… overbearing.”

“They’re good kids,” Keith says, smiling. “You have a beautiful family. I think I speak for everyone in my team when I say it’s been a pleasure to stay at your home.” Keith notices how Yusu’s cheeks start coloring a deep shade of purple, her yellow-purple eyes softening with her smile. “We’re all so grateful for your hospitality.”

“It’s been our pleasure,” Yusu says. “Now, I must get supper ready, and I could use a little help.”

“Of course,” Keith says, and follows Yusu inside the house.

The kitchen is a cramped space, but it’s easily one of Keith’s favorite rooms in the house. It’s just so full of personality and wonderful smells. He’s a terrible cook, even under Yusu’s tutelage, but he still has fun chopping up weird vegetables and helping around. Since feeding thirteen people is not an easy task, he also likes knowing that he’s taken a bit of the burden of it from Yusu’s shoulders. 

Dinner is always a huge event in Yusu’s home, since she insists that they must all have a meal together at least once a day. Back at the Castle, they usually didn’t bother with that. Everyone used to go into the kitchen and have a plate of food goo whenever they pleased, and pretty much only got together when Hunk had prepared something special. But it’s nice, Keith thinks, that they’re doing this. Sitting around the lon g dining room table,  enjoying a nice, homemade meal together. Keith thinks that this little ritual has made them grow at least a little bit closer, feeling a little bit more like a family every day, everyone, the whole team. 

After everyone is full thanks to the delicious stew Yusu had cooked up, the team start relaying their daily updates. Hunk tells them about the progress they’re making with the Lions, Coran and Romelle piping up with details from time to time. Keith tells them about his diplomatic mission, Allura gives them updates on Shiro’s condition and Krolia tells them about the Blades’ movements. The Aurantian kids listen attentively, asking questions about  _ everything.  _ And it’s nice, Keith thinks. It’s really nice.

Allura and Keith help Yusu and the kids clear out the table, chatting easily about their home planets to satisfy the kids’ curiosity. They save some stew for Lance, Nyma and Rolo who are due to arrive in a varga or so, and when Allura volunteers to do the dishes, Keith takes his leave, grabbing a plate of food for Indy before he does.

He steps out of the small cottage and into the night. Indigo bounds up to him as soon as she spots him, pressing her wet nose against his hand and whining softly. Keith smiles at his wolf, kneeling down and petting her, placing her food on the ground. Keith sits down next to her, watching her eat, and it’s quiet. Peaceful. He spares a few moments to look at the blood orange sky, looking out for any signs of Red, as the two suns set below the horizon and the outlines of Silvam’s twelve moons start to pop up alongside the stars.

When Indy finishes eating, she stands in front of Keith, tail wagging happily. She barks, nodding her head towards the forest in invitation. Keith grins, stretching his hand to scratch the back of her ears.

“You wanna go for a run, girl?” Keith coos. Indy yips, running around Keith in excitement as he stands up, dusting himself off. “Alright,” he says, stretching a little. “Let’s go.”

Running has always been second nature to Keith. He’s loved running for as long as he can remember, losing himself in the comfortable rhythm, forgetting about everything else. He’d never had a companion before Indy, though, always running by himself, from himself. 

He ran and ran when Shiro disappeared the first time, every morning, through the desert. He ran until his muscles gave out, in the Castle’s training room, when Shiro disappeared the second time. He ran the length of the space whale ten times every day, from the memories, from the future flashes, from the time that ticked so slowly it pressed down on him so heavily.

But now, Keith just runs for the sake of it. It’s different now, Keith can’t quite pinpoint how, as he follows Indigo through the darkening forest, hopping over roots and ducking under branches. He feels the stretch of his muscles, the bending of his ligaments, the burn of exercise. He feels conscious of every part of his body, of his every breath, of his every step. And for some reason, he thinks of Aletta.

His step falters a little, unconsciously slowing down as his mind focuses on his foster mother. He… hadn’t thought about her in a while, if he’s being honest, not since the first few months at the space whale when memories from his childhood kept coming back to him. He didn’t really like thinking about his childhood, even now that his wounds have mostly healed. 

But still, he thinks of Aletta. He thinks of her young face, of her kind blue eyed gaze, of her usually calm disposition, of the way she’d softly held his injured hand on their way to the hospital that one time he punched her wall. He thinks of how he hadn’t really kept in touch with her, after Shiro enrolled him at the Garrison. She’d sent some emails, Keith remembers, but he doesn’t think he ever replied. He thinks of how she’d introduced him to Shiro, her best friend’s son, hoping that he’d make a friend. He thinks of this one time, after Keith had gone on another wall punching spree, when she sat him down on her cozy living room. He thinks of how she looked at him, a concerned frown on her face, looking a bit lost and out of her depth. He must’ve been around nine years old, two years after he’d first arrived at Aletta’s doorstep. She-- she didn’t give up on him, it hits Keith now, after all these years. 

“Keith,” she’d said, tentative, holding his gaze. “Have you ever thought about um,” she hesitated, reaching out from across the couch to hold his hand, running her thumb over his bruised knuckles. She sighed. “There are other ways, you know? To-- to deal with-- to calm down.”

Keith remembers of how he’d frowned, looking away in annoyance, withdrawing his hand from her hold. Aletta folded her hands in her lap, pleading eyes on Keith.

“You don’t have to-- to hurt yourself like this,” she’d whispered, her eyes flickering to the small Buddha statue she kept on her coffee table.

“You know,” she’d started again, shifting in her seat. “I’m not-- I’m not trying to impose my religious views on you, or whatever, but have you ever tried meditating?”

“What? Sitting down for hours like you do?” Keith had replied, moodily, eying the Buddha figurine.

Aletta laughed. “Yeah, I guess,” she said, running a hand through her long blonde hair. “But that’s not the only way to meditate, you know? Walking and running, if done mindfully, can be meditation too.” She’d shot him a small smile, unsure if she was making any sense, but hoping Keith would get it. If not then, eventually. “You just… focus on your body. On your breathing. And your mind goes quiet for a while. It’s like, coming back into your body. And it’s nice. Peaceful.

“And like, meditation doesn’t necessarily have to be a religious or spiritual experience,” she continued. “I started meditating when I was younger and it helped me cope with my anxiety…” Keith had raised an eyebrow at that, not knowing about this side of Aletta. “It’s not a magic thing, you know,” she said. “You don’t just start being mindful and your problems disappear. It’s more about, quieting your mind so you can understand your feelings and work through them.”

Keith had been too young, he thinks, to actually understand what Aletta was trying to say. He remembers being skeptical and even a little angry, being told that being  _ mindful _ or whatever that meant was going to help him. Was going to make him feel less alone, less angry, less confused. It’d just seemed… silly to him, back then.

Still, Aletta had smiled at him, a little sadly, a little hopefully. But Keith thinks he gets what she was talking about, now, as he slows down his pace and jogs through the forest, every step conscious, his mind finally quiet in a way he’d never experienced before. He feels like before he was actually using running to… run away, and now it’s something that helps him ground himself, come back into his body. 

Indy leads him through the forest, slowing down her pace to match Keith’s without complaint. It’s getting really dark now, and Keith can barely see where he’s going, so he’s glad to find out that Indigo has actually been guiding them back to the cottage. He steps into the clearing, illuminated by the warm glow of the lights spilling from the house. Their host’s home hasn’t changed at all since the team began their stay, but somehow, to Keith, it’s actually become more beautiful.

He can’t explain it, but there’s something about the small structure, the way it lights up the small clearing, the small alien vegetable garden, the clothes rack. It’s like he’s had time to appreciate the simple beauty of it, of a home, he thinks as he sits down on the lining of a small, unused well. The stone is full of overgrown red shrubs, and it overlooks the house nicely, framed by some trees that actually lowered the home’s visibility. 

He sits there, legs swinging in front of him, looking at the sky. He doesn’t really wanna go back inside, not quite yet, content to stay in the quiet night a bit longer. Indy starts sniffing around next to him, finding an animal that vaguely resembles a toad and entertaining herself while trying to catch it. Keith focuses on the sky though, looking at the way sunlight is reflecting off Silvam’s many moons, until he hears some chattering come from the house that catches his attention. 

Keith sits up a little, leaning forward from his seat at the well to see past the trees and into the source of the noise.

“-- not needed, Yusu, honestly,” someone is saying. Lance. Keith spots him immediately, as he’s stepping outside the small house, talking to Yusu inside. He’s dressed in one of Mokugi’s light blue tunics, without the traditional belt wrapping around his waist. When the wind makes the tunic blow and flap, Keith can see the bright orange pants that Lance wore underneath. “I can hang them myself. I appreciate you already washed them and all--”

“Oh, it’s no problem, Red Paladin, you know that,” Yusu is saying from the door, watching Lance head towards the clothes rack next to the house.

Lance laughs, clear and loud. “Good night, Yusu,” he says, warmly, waving off the Aurantian woman. She smiles a little watching him go, before stepping back inside the house.

Keith’s eyes involuntarily follow Lance, familiar to following his movements. From where he’s sitting, Keith can see when Lance rounds around the house and hangs his Earth clothes on the rack before moving to check up on Kaltenecker. Keith can only see her butt, so he quickly loses interest and turns back to stare at the sky, Indy’s head on his lap, having already caught her prey.

The night would be completely silent and still if it weren’t for Lance’s soft voice. From where Keith’s at, the words are unintelligible, but the sound of Lance talking to Kaltenecker while he brushes her is comforting to Keith. He isn’t sure how long he stays there, running his fingers through Indigo’s fur. But when he eventually finds himself yawning, he decides to head back.

“Come on, girl,” he whispers to Indigo, patting her back. They both jump off the well’s ledge and begin their walk towards the house. Keith was originally headed towards the front door, but the sound of laughter coming from around the corner of the house distracts him. 

“What?” Lance is saying, voice cutting through the children’s gurgling giggles. He’s sitting facing Kaltenecker’s side, the kids all rounded up next to him, his hands letting go of the cow’s udders. He twists in his seat, eyebrows high on his face, eyeing each of the kids. “You guys are not shocked?”

“You said you were going to show us something amazing,”  Muka says, still laughing. “Not…  _ sakurgargh _ .” She says the last word in their native language, a weird guttural sound that makes Lance’s face twist in confusion.

Keith snorts softly, noticing how Lance’s eyes quickly flit towards the sound. Keith smiles when Lance spots him, leaning on the wall near the corner. Lance briefly smiles back, before he turns his attention back to the kids.

“What was that?” Lance asks Muka, smile still on his face.

_ “Sakurgargh,” _ she repeats, and then she and her siblings double over in laughter when Lance tries to say that.

“Sakrugarh?” Lance tries again, sending the children into another fit.

_ “Sakurgargh,”  _ Kohuki ennunciates. “That’s what we call that,” he says, hands gesturing to the milk on the bucket behind Lance.

“You guys have cows here?” Lance asks, sounding surprised.

“Well not cows,” Muka explains. “They’re  _ Sakurghighas.” _

“I’m not even gonna try and pronounce that,” Lance says, and the children laugh again. “But let me tell you guys a secret,” he tells the kids once they calmed down. He motions them to inch closer before he whispers loudly, “When Allura and Coran saw what Kaltenecker could do, they were _ terrified.” _

“No way, the Princess?” Yiku says, his tiny voice filled with laughter and incredulity.

“Mhmm,” Lance hums, nodding. The Aurantian kids began laughing again until they hear the window behind them open, their mother’s face poking outside.

Her eyes narrow when she spots her kids. “Yiku, Kohuki, Muka,” she addresses them. “Why are you out of bed?” She raises an eyebrow, curls her lip, stern glare still on her children. 

“It’s way past your bedtime!” she scolds, sending apologetic gazes at Lance and Keith. “Stop bothering the nice Paladins.”

“But mom we were just--” Muka starts.

“It’s no problem, Yusu,” Lance cuts her off, placing a hand on her shoulder. “They were just teaching me about  _ Sakrugiñas.” _

The kids all bring their hands to their mouths to hold in their giggle at Lance’s terrible pronunciation, making him smile fondly. 

“But all right, you heard your mother,” Lance says, straightening up, looking all big brotherly. 

“Awww,” Yiku says sadly.

“Can’t argue with the boss, buddy,” Lance tells him, patting Yiku’s head when he hugs Lance. “Good night, kid.”

“Good night!” the kids call back, waving at them as they head back inside. 

“Night,” Keith calls, waving before turning to Lance. The Red Paladin smiles at him brightly as Keith walks over and plops himself down on the ground next to Indy. Lance only crouches at Kaltenecker’s side, supporting his weight on his toes.

“This is the second time I catch you spying on me,” Lance says with a teasing curl to his lips.

Keith feels his cheeks begin to heat up. “I was not--  _ spying _ on you!” he replies indignantly. “You knew I was there the whole time!”

“Hmm,” Lance hums softly, as if considering Keith’s point, joking grin still in place.

“Whatever,” Keith grumbles, lips twitching a little at Lance’s snort in response. They both catch each other’s eyes and quickly look away, lapsing back into silence. Indy curls up behind Keith, prompting him to lay his back on the ground, resting his head on her torso.

“You’re good with kids,” Keith comments after a short while.

“Well,” Lance starts, trailing off into a small groan and he sits down on the ground next to Keith, legs outstretched in front of him. “I did grow up with two younger siblings and a bunch of nephews. So I’ve had some practice.”

Keith looks at Lance, outlined from the moonlight, from his spot on the ground. He watches as Lance’s features take on  _ that _ look again before he forces it off his face, turning to Keith with a too-bright smile. 

“What were you doing out here anyway?” he asks, aiming for a change in topic. 

Keith bends his arm to pat Indy’s side. “We were exercising,” he replies, humoring Lance.

“How do you have the energy to do that after flying in today?” Lance says, placing his hands behind him for support. “I know I am.”

“I managed to sneak in some naps,” Keith tells Lance.

“Lucky,” Lance says.

“And also, she gets a bit restless,” Keith continues, shifting to place his cheek on his wolf’s fur with a smile.

Keith sees how Lance softens a little, raising a hand to pat Indy’s head. The wolf whines lovingly, making Lance coo and move to rest his head on her neck adoringly. When Lance lays down next to Keith, he mirrors Keith’s position, shooting a smile at the Black Paladin.

And though Lance is smiling right now, Keith can’t stop thinking about that  _ look. _ The look on his that’s been haunting Keith for the past two weeks. The look Keith doesn’t know how to read, or how to ease the pained lines that make it up. It’s the ghost of that look that makes Keith blurt it out.

“Do you ever miss Earth?”

Keith knows the answer, but still, he asks.

Lance’s smile drops a little, and he sighs, adjusting his position to look up at the sky. Keith doesn’t move, observing Lance’s profile as his eyes look far, far away.

“‘Course I do,” Lance grumbles. It’s quiet for a bit, but Keith doesn’t press any further, knowing that if Lance wants to talk he will. And he does.

“I--I really miss the beach,” Lance says quietly, as if admitting something big. “My family has a house by the beach, you know, in Cuba. It’s far away from the tourist beaches and from everything, really. So there is barely any light pollution over there, so at night, we could see every star.”

Keith feels his breath catch for some reason he can’t quite pinpoint, listening as Lance’s voice begins to take a nostalgic, dreamy quality to it.

“My older brother, Luis,” Lance keeps saying, “he used to teach me all about the stars. Their names, the constellations they’re a part of, if they were red giants or white dwarfs. And about the planets we could see, too.” Lance smiles, a little sadly. “I spent so many nights out in the beach by myself, whenever I felt lonely and stuff. I’d look at the stars and like, I thought about how all of them had solar systems and aliens probably and I felt so small but I felt better, you know? Knowing there was so much out there. Man, I really wanted to see them all up close.” He takes a deep breath. “And now we’re all the way out here.”

“Yeah,” Keith replies, turning to look at the sky as well. He takes in the shapes of six of the Silvamian satellites that are visible, all different sizes and all kinds of irregular figures. They looks like a collection of several asteroids, accidentally pulled in by the planet’s gravity. It’s an oddly beautiful sight, all the moons so very different to the round one back home.

“Did you know,” Lance starts again, “that the second sun over here is a blue-white supergiant? And that it’s actually hundreds of light years away. It’s just so bright it looks like a second sun. This whole star system orbits it.”

Keith gives his head a little shake, feeling Indy breathe calmly under their heads. Lance shoots him a little smirk before he directs his gaze upwards again.

“Back on Earth, we call it Deneb,” Lance informs Keith, the name vaguely familiar. “It’s the farthest star we can see with our naked eye. It’s in Cygnus, I think. Like 2600 light years from Earth.”

“Holy shit,” Keith says.

“I know,” Lance replies, his voice turning small. “We’re so far away from home.”

Keith can hear it in Lance’s voice, the loneliness that strains it. The sound goes straight to his heart, vibrating in the part of him that sometimes feels the same. Not the being far away from Earth, since he doesn’t have much waiting for him there, but the lonely part.

“Now, whenever I look at the stars, I still feel so small but also so…” Lance whispers. “So…”

“Alone?” Keith cuts in, softly, concerned eyes back on Lance’s face. He nods softly, unable to actually articulate it. 

Keith thinks of the nights he spent on the space whale, looking into the night sky and not recognizing a single constellation. He remembers wondering about the team’s wellbeing, feeling so far away. So Keith thinks he gets it. At least partially.

“I get it,” he says out loud. Lance turns to Keith, placing a hand on Indy’s belly, focusing on the tracks his fingers are leaving on her fur as he strokes it. 

“I just—” Lance takes a deep breath and tries again. “Back home, I—I don’t know how to explain it. But it’s like, I knew who I was, what my role was. Lance. A brother. A son. The cool uncle. A pilot in training. It’s like. I had a place where I felt like I was needed. Out here, though, I don’t know. I kinda feel like I don’t have a place here,” he admits, his voice a low murmur. “Not like you or Hunk or Allura or Pidge. Like, you’re the leader now. Hunk’s the sweetheart engineer. Allura is the heart and magic of the team. Pidge’s the brains. But me? I—I don’t know...” he trails off, brows pulled into a sad frown. 

It makes Keith’s heart squeeze uncomfortably. 

“Lance,” Keith says, his hand moving automatically to cover Lance’s between them, stilling its movement. Lance looks up, startled, eyes boring into Keith’s. “You do have a place here. You’re the Red Paladin. You’re—you’re the glue of the team, what brings us all together, since the beginning, you know?” 

He thinks of Lance standing in front of Blue, of Lance piloting them straight to the Castle of Lions, all those years ago. He thinks of Lance protecting Coran, of Lance holding his hand with a smile, of Lance’s pep talks and Lance’s lighthearted jokes. Of Lance’s hand on his shoulder, telling Keith he trusts him. 

Keith gives Lance a small smile.

“I can’t imagine Voltron without you,” Keith tells him earnestly.

Even in the dim lighting of the night, Keith can see how Lance’s cheeks start heating up, see his eyes turn glassy. He clears his throat, adjusting his body to look away from Keith and to the stars again. His hand slips from Keith’s grasp.

“You can’t just say stuff like that,” Lance says, voice tight. 

“Like what?” Keith asks, raising a brow. “The truth?”

Lance doesn’t reply. 

“You know,” Keith continues. “Someone told me once that you don’t have to believe everything you think. We’re wrong sometimes.”

Lance hums thoughtfully. “Who told you that?”

“Aletta,” Keith replies. “My foster mother.”

“She sounds wise,” Lance says, absorbing the information. 

“She is,” Keith agrees. “I didn’t really understand it back then. What she meant when she talked to me about all of this.”

“Sometimes it feels like it’s true though,” Lance says. “Sometimes it feels like too much.”

Keith’s eyes crinkle in sympathy. “Tell me about it.”

“Ay,” Lance sighs.  _ “La soledad.” _

 

“You don’t have to feel it anymore, you know.”

A smile. “I know.”

 

♥️

 

“Was it true?”

“What?”

“The thing about Allura, Coran and Kaltenecker.”

They’ve been out here for a while, in relative silence, still staring at the sky. The lights from inside the house have been turned off, and everyone is probably asleep already. Well, maybe not Pidge but that’s beside the point. It’s quiet, save for the songs of some night birds and Indy’s occasional snuffle. Lance barks out a laugh, the sound startling Indy who flicks her tail at Keith in mild annoyance.

“Yeah,” Lance says, smile still playing on his face. “Hunk made us milkshakes once--”

“Wait,” Keith cuts in, propping himself up on his elbows to look at Lance properly. “Hunk made you milkshakes?”

“Yeah!” Lance replies, nodding happily. “They were super good. Allura and Coran loved them. That is, until they saw me…” he trails off, his hands moving in front of his face to mimic the milking process, sound effects and all. Keith’s lips twitch a little.

“Damn,” he says, laying back down on the ground. “I can’t believe I missed the milkshakes.”

There’s a small silence.

Lance sighs, moving to stand up. He looks down at Keith, sheepish grin on display as he scratches the back of his head. 

“I don’t know how to make milkshakes but…” He stands next to Kaltenecker, tapping the bucket full of milk under her with his foot. “I think we could manage some smoothies?”

Keith grins.

They head back inside the house, toeing their shoes off at the entrance as to not make noise to wake up the people downstairs. Their socked feet patter softly on the wooden floor as they walk towards the kitchen, giggling and shoving each other as they race to the room. But it doesn’t matter who gets there first, since as soon as they step into the cramped kitchen, they begin their search for their smoothies’ ingredients. They open and close cabinets, drawers, the fridge, scooping into their arms everything they need. 

They dump all the things on the small counter at the same time, turning to each other to share a smile. Keith feels like he’s back at the Garrison at thirteen, sneaking into the kitchens for a midnight snack, feeling daring and adventurous as he tiptoed down the halls. But this is better, he thinks, because Lance is with him, looking at him, grinning at him, teasing blue eyes edging him on.

Keith looks away first, clearing his throat before he crouches down and grabs the bucket of milk at their feet. He pours some of the liquid into a pot on top of the stove to pasteurize the milk as, next to him, Lance starts peeling the strange berry-like fruit they found. Lance claimed he’s had it for breakfast before, and that it’s sweet and it is totally smoothieable. They throw all the ingredients together inside a blender, adding some ice and some leaves the Aurantians use as sweetener.

“God, I hope this isn’t as loud as mamá’s blender,” Lance mutters, placing the lid on top of the blender. “Ready?” he asks, shooting a glance at Keith as his finger hover over the  _ on _ button.

Keith nods, and at his approval, Lance clicks on the blender. Both of them flinch in anticipation to the loud sound but quickly relax when they find out the blender is completely soundless. They turn to look at each other, Lance’s mouth agape and Keith’s face fixed on a surprised approving look.

When it looks like it’s ready, Lance pours their blend into the glasses Keith is holding in his hands. As soon as they’re full, Keith hands Lance’s glass to him, trying not to think about the way his fingers brush against Lance’s, lingering. 

“On three, alright?” Lance says, leaning in close and clinking his glass against Keith. From this distance, Keith can count the freckles on Lance’s cheeks, see himself reflected off Lance’s eyes.

“One,” Keith starts, his voice coming out strangely breathless.

Lance links his arm holding the glass around Keith’s, intertwining their limbs. He brings the glass to his lips, eyes still boring into Keith’s.

“Two,” Keith continues, mirroring Lance. The place where his forearm and Lance’s meet feels hot. He feels his lips curl into a small smirk as the cool glass touches them. Lance wets his lips in anticipation, tongue darting out. Keith’s eyes follow the motion. Suddenly, he can’t breathe.

“Three!” Keith blurts out and they both take a huge gulp from their drinks, never breaking eye contact. The smoothie is actually warmer than Keith thought it would be, the spicy taste of it burning Keith’s tongue, like there’s a river of cinnamon flowing down his throat. He almost chokes, but there’s something about the look Lance is giving him, eyes bright and challenging that lights up a spark in Keith’s chest.

He raises an eyebrow, responding to Lance’s challenge, drinking his smoothie faster. Lance’s drinking speed grows too, refusing to let Keith finish first and win… whatever this is. The way his throat moves catches Keith’s eye, momentarily distracting him. 

In that moment, Lance finishes his smoothie.

“I won!” he says happily. “Suck it, Keith!” And then he burps. 

Keith snorts, untangling his arm from Lance’s. “Whatever,” he mumbles, fighting a grin. 

“It kinda tastes like a banana smoothie,” Lance comments, eying his empty glass. “If you squint.”

“How am I supposed to squint my tastebuds, Lance,” Keith deadpans.

And there, under the dim light of the kitchen, Lance smiles bright at Keith, smoothie mustache and all.

 

✵   * 　　. 　　　   
 .   　　　 ·   +    
 · 　  ✵ ✷   　 ✵    
　　　　 ˚ 　 　 . . 　 　   
　 *  　　　　  +    
✦  　 　 　　　 ✫  .    
✧ 　　 　　　　  * 　　 ✫

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaahhhh. i really enjoyed writing this chapter. i got super inspired by the trailer and the leaks that i had to add a bunch of stuff to the plot. (yes, guys, shadam/adashi will happen in this fic. you understand why i _had_ to?
> 
> come talk to me about lgbt shiro --> @softbakugos


	4. part iv: el puerto (the port)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of Team Voltron's trip to Earth is a bumpy ride. But they get there, eventually.
> 
> There's battles, bonding and surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit this chapter really got out of my hands. i was not expecting to write almost as much as the last three updates for this, but well. i think i'm happy with how it turned out.
> 
> cw for non graphic descriptions of an injury and some fractured bone talk.

**part iv: el puerto**

**_(the port)_ **

 

“Keith?”

He hears his name being called, startling Keith from his slumber. The light coming from the crack on his tent is almost blinding. But Keith can make out a familiar figure standing there, hand on the blackout canvas, silhouette clearly outlined against the sunlight.

“Hnnhgh?” Keith manges to mumble out, sitting up on his air mattress. He rubs his eyes, blinking the sleep out of them, pupils adjusting to the light. Lance’s features come into focus, eyes foggy with sleep, small grin on his lips.

“You ready to go yet?” Lance asks softly, stepping into the small tent and flipping on the flashlight Keith kept hanging from the tent’s roof. 

“Do I look it?” Keith replies, raising a brow at Lance who snorts in response.

“You were the one who said we had to go early,” Lance reminds him. He spots Keith’s Paladin armor in the corner of the tent. So he heads over to it, scoops it up, then dumps it on Keith’s mattress. The weight of the Paladin armor makes the air in the mattress wiggle. 

Keith sighs and swings his feet to the ground next to him, stretching a little. He looks up at Lance sleepily, watching him shake his head and turn to the tent’s exit. 

“Don’t just sit there!” Lance scolds as he opens up the crack in the canvas, flooding the tent with sunlight again. “Get dressed. I’ll wait outside,” he instructs before he leaves Keith alone again.

Keith groans as he stands up, quickly shedding his sleepwear and stepping into the Paladin suit. He’s so tired, he feels his bones creak whenever he flexes his fingers or moves his elbows as he slips on his chestplate and the rest of the pieces of his armor. It’s been a mere five vargas since they got to this seemingly uninhabited planet after flying their lions for almost two days straight. And they’d only stopped here because they’d pushed their Lions (and themselves) too much. 

Back in Silvam, Allura, Hunk, Coran and Romelle had done their best. Everyone in the team knows that, but the lions still aren’t back to their full power. Despite the repairs they’ve done, the Lions can’t recharge properly until they get a replacement for the Castle, rendering them unable to have enough energy to form Voltron or travel long distances without consistent rest. 

It’s been around a week since they left their temporary shelter at Silvam, feeling re-energized and ready to resume their trip to Earth. They were originally headed to another planet a few star systems over in a hurry, since they were running out of food and supplies from their last pit stop. It was some bad management by them all, some miscalculation in their schedule, but yeah. They ran out of food.

Everyone was too exhausted to go look for some food, too tired to think about being hungry when they’d arrived on this green planet. But Keith knew that everyone was going to be famished in the morning, and when he’d voiced his concerns, Lance volunteered to go looking for food with him after some rest. 

And so, he’s there when Keith steps out of his tent, blinking into the sunlight. He finds Lance sitting a few feet away from his tent in the middle of their campsite, sleepily stroking Indy on his lap. The sight fills Keith with a sense of deja vu. Lance, staring at the distance, chin resting on one of his hands, absentmindedly running his fingers through Indy’s fur. It hits Keith that he’s seen this before, in the space whale, one evening when the light had hit him as he was cuddling with his wolf.

It makes sense that Indy warmed up to Lance so quick, since she’d already met the red paladin. Kind of. Through Keith’s memories, through glimpses of their future. So many of those had featured Lance, and Keith doesn’t wanna dwell on what that might mean. He feels overwhelmed whenever he thinks about it. So he just locks his jaw and pushes it down, whenever the thought jumps into his head, whenever he wakes up after dreaming of the waves and the deep blue of the sea and Lance’s eyes.

Indigo, who apparently never runs out of energy, teleports to Keith’s side as soon as she senses him coming. Lance looks up at Keith as soon as Indy flashes, standing up and heading toward him. He’s carrying his helmet, in case they need the comms if they happen to run into some trouble, but the air around them is too hot to wear it.

“Took you long enough,” Lance says, hip checking Keith as he walks by.

Keith rolls his eyes, moving to follow Lance and Indy into the jungle. “It literally took me like three doboshes to get outside, come on,” Keith says.

“I counted ten.”

“You liar.”

They continue bickering playfully as they walk through the alien jungle. Keith can’t help but notice how similar it feels to Earth, with its green plants and hot moist air. Keith can almost pretend that they’re somewhere in the middle of the Amazon, having some sort of adventure in the wild, like Keith’s seen in those survival reality shows. 

They’ve been walking for around an hour, and they still haven’t had much luck finding enough food. They encounter some trees that bear fruit, and Keith gets the chance to watch Lance climb a tree with impressive agility to pluck some orange fruit. After Indy checks it, though, she’s let them know it isn’t edible. They also spot a few animals scurrying below them, flying over them, but none of them seems big enough to have sufficient meat to actually feed them. So they keep on exploring until they eventually come across a wide river.

“Holy shit,” Lance says when they stop at the river’s shore. He has a hand over his brow, squinting to see if he can spot the opposite shore. “It’s fucking huge. At least ten miles wide.”

Keith nods, also amazed at the immensity of the river before them, its water flowing wild and fast like rapids. “Maybe there’s some fish here?” Keith says.

“Hmm,” Lance hums thoughtfully. “Maybe, but how are we gonna catch them?”

“Good point,” Keith concedes, but still, he wades in until the water splashes against his thighs. He looks around him, trying to spot any fish under the clear water without much luck.

“Hey, look!” Lance shouts from the shore. Keith’s head whips around, spotting Lance who is waving something in his hands. “These look just like mushrooms!”

Keith wrinkles his nose. He’s never been a fan of mushrooms, so he isn’t really interested in bringing some back to camp. He doesn’t think he’s gonna be able to eat them, even if Hunk cooks them up. Keith hears Lance whistle to Indy, who trots over to Lance and smells the fungi in his hands. She barks happily, taking a bite out of it, having thoroughly sniffed it and decided it’s safe to eat. Lance woops happily, and for some fucking reason Keith will never understand, Lance decides to nibble on the mushroom in his hand.

The reaction to the taste is immediate. Even from a distance, Keith can see how Lance’s face twists in disgust, skin losing its color quickly, his grip on his helmet slacken and it clatters on the ground. Lance moves to the river’s edge so fast he might have teleported, spitting. He drops to his knees and scoops some water up to rinse the taste off his mouth. He doesn’t even bother to run a check of it with his suit to see if the water doesn’t contain anything that might be harmful to them. Keith can’t help it. He starts laughing.

“Oh my  _ god,” _ Lance says loudly, spitting and sputtering. Apparently, the fact that the mushroom is safe to eat doesn’t mean it’s safe to taste. “It tastes like actual shit.”

“Have you ever had  _ actual _ shit?” Keith asks, still laughing as he heads back to shore. He crouches next to Lance, patting his back.

“I just did,” Lance replies, shooting a glare at Keith who just laughs even louder. “Shut up,” Lance says, shoving Keith playfully. Keith actually loses his balance and drops to the ground, unable to calm himself down. He blames it on his lack of sleep. 

“It’s not even that funny!” Lance scoffs and stands up, seeming a little offended. He dusts himself off and then places his hands on his hips, looking down at Keith. Lance opens his mouth to say something else when, from the corner of his eye, Keith sees something pointy flying at them fast. He reacts on instinct, arms wrapping around Lance’s legs to tackle him. His knees bend and Lance is on the ground, the projectile flying above them, barely missing Lance’s head. They turn to look at each other for a second, eyes wide in shock, before they both scramble to their feet. Quickly, they take on a fighting stance next to each other, bayards materializing in their hands.

Keith spots them then, around thirty people lurking between the trees, surrounding them. Maybe Keith and Lance had been too loud, alerting anyone near them of their presence. They’d let their guard down, thinking that this planet was uninhabited by any intelligent life forms since their database has no record of it. But it’s inhabited, alright, and Keith and Lance find themselves outnumbered and surrounded. There’s no way to run. The river is not an option. Their only choice is to stand and fight their way out.

Keith hears one of them beginning to approach, slowly. Keith and Lance put their shields up, and Indy takes a fighting stance in front of them, her teeth bare. For a second, everything is silent, until the spell is broken by a war cry, loud and guttural. And the people hiding from the trees charge.

Keith is taken aback by them, as soon as they’re out in the light. Their attackers are around their height, their bodies lithe and muscular, without an armor to cover up the mint green skin that glints under the sunlight. Their black eyes are full of fear, piercing into Keith’s soul. But they charge anyways, with their weapons made out of sticks and stone knives. Keith feels himself hesitate. He just… can’t attack these people. By the way Lance’s eyes nervously shift to him, Keith can tell they’re on the same page.

Keith’s bayard transforms into his sword, and he takes a step in front of Lance.

“I’ll take them,” Keith says. “You can’t use your gun on them.”

Keith hears Lance scoff, already beside him, cocky grin on his face. “Who said I was gonna use my gun?” Lance says, and a fucking broadsword appears in his hands.

Keith gapes. “Holy shi--” he starts, but he doesn’t get to finish because their attackers are on them, jumping on them without an ounce of hesitation. He is barely able to block the first blow with the blunt side of his sword. 

And after that, it’s on. Keith and Lance both begin moving, blocking the attacks coming their way. It doesn’t matter if they come from the left or the right, Keith’s there to catch the aliens, sweeping their feet off the ground and knocking them out. And on the odd chance he misses one, Lance is always there to help him out, using his sword to cut through spears and deflect stone knives that zip through the air and clang loudly against Lance’s bayard.

It comes naturally, like breathing, fighting alongside Lance. They work together, sync up their movements, catch the other one when he slips. Though Lance’s sword fighting technique is a bit sloppy, it’s a lot more polished than their opponent’s fighting style. Lance and Keith’s training shows, their skills way superior to these fighters. Indy’s helping them out as well, using her teleportation ability to flash right on top of some attackers, body slamming them to the ground.

_ “Fuck,” _ Lance hisses. Keith glances at him over his shoulder, finding Lance bringing his hands to his face, touching the blood that’s spilling from a long, thin cut. They’d grazed him, creating a long wound on Lance’s cheekbone, under his left eye. He bites his lip, clearly in pain, momentarily distracting him from the battlefield around him.

“Behind you!” Keith shouts out, and Lance reacts barely on time to dodge the punch being aimed at him.

Lance blocks it with his forearm and uses his shield to push the alien back.

“Thanks,” Lance says, breathing hard, crooked smile on his face. He looks wild, blue eyes sparkling with adrenaline, and he looks beautiful.

“Stay focused,” Keith says, but also to himself. He can’t afford to get distracted, because even though he’s better at this than his opponents, they’re still incredibly persistent. 

Keith’s fighting the next warrior that comes at him when he hears it. The hard thud. The whimper. His head whips around, spotting her. His wolf. Apparently, someone has managed to land a kick at her, sending her flying from the shore to the trees. The attacker is moving towards her now, knife drawn. Keith’s whole vision turns red.

He runs towards Indy without thinking about it, jumping over some unconscious bodies on the ground, avoiding a few hands that wanted to stop him. But he gets there, jumping into position in front of his wolf, protecting her from the imminent attack. Keith feels his blood boil, his rage at someone hurting Indy makes his vision blur at the edges, hyperfocused on the alien who’d kicked her. 

That’s why he doesn’t see the second warrior coming up behind him. Keith hears Lance scream a warning at him, but it comes a second too late. As he turns around, a mighty punch lands on his ear. It knocks him to the ground, landing on his knees next to Indy. He feels dizzy, but he manages to turn around just in time for his sword to meet the spear coming at him. From the corner of his eye, he sees the first attacker come at him, too fast, aiming a kick at Keith he’s not gonna be able to block. He braces himself for the impact but it doesn’t come. Instead, he feels Indy’s wet nose against his temple and an uncomfortable squeezing sensation. There’s a bright blue light and suddenly, he’s next to Lance, who turns around with his jaw dropped.

“Did you just--?” he says.

“Holy fuck,” Keith breathes out. Indigo just teleported with him. That’s… a thing now, apparently. Keith barely has any time to process it, the possibilities it opens, because there’s still around ten people left, ready to keep fighting. So Keith jumps to his feet, weapon drawn and moving to position next to Lance, their shoulders brushing.

The fight doesn’t last much longer after that. When there’s only three people standing, they drop their weapons. One of them appears to be their leader, distinguished from the others because of his deep blue face markings. He walks slowly towards Keith and Lance, speaking to them loud and clear, in a language neither of them could understand.

“I’m-- sorry?” Lance says, hands gesturing wildly around him. “We don’t understand.”

When the alien hears them speak, his face twists into a frown. He changes tactics then, trying to communicate with them through gestures. Some things are universal, apparently, but even though they could understand some of the things the alien leader tried to convey, they still didn’t get it fully.

“I think…” Keith starts, pensive hand on his chin, observing the alien before them. “He wants us to go to their village.”

Lance frowns. “What for?”

“He wants us to teach them how to fight like us,” Keith explains, but Lance’s frown deepens in further confusion.

“How the fuck did you get  _ that _ from all of…” He begins making big gestures again, imitating the leader. “That?”

Keith just shrugs, smug smirk on his face. Lance just  _ ugh _ s and rolls his eyes, walking a few paces down to the edge of the river where he’d dropped his helmet earlier. He picks it up and puts it on.

“I’m gonna call Allura,” Lance explains, voice muffled by the helmet’s glass mask. Keith nods, since it’s a good idea. They definitely will need her help to deal with… this. 

Allura is already, thankfully, awake and keeping an ear out for any sound coming from the coms. Lance gives them their coordinates and she tells them that she and Romelle are on their way. It’ll probably take them a while, still, considering how far Keith and Lance had strayed from their camp.

Keith shoots the alien leader a small smile as they try to tell him that they called Allura and that they should wait for her to help. The leader nods, calling out something to his subordinates and they start moving to help their beat up comrades. He sits down then, crossing his legs in front of him, eyeing Keith and Lance with lingering suspicion.

Lance and Keith look at each other and then move to sit down in front of the leader, mirroring his pose. The leader nods once more, pleased before he starts gesturing again, this time at himself.

“Tsum-da,” he says, pointing at himself, and then at them, a question on his face.

“Lance,” Lance says, bringing his hand to his chest, then points at Keith with his thumb.

“Oh,” Keith says, when the leader turns to him expectantly. “Keith.”

“Lance, Okeith,” the alien--Tsum-da, repeats under his breath, nodding again. Lance gives him a little smile, the tip of his tongue poking out from his teeth.

“Keith,” he corrects.

“Keith,” Tsum-da repeats, his cheeks acquiring a deep green blush.

And that’s how they get started, gesturing and learning words and trying to communicate while they wait for Allura and Romelle. Keith and Lance start relaxing little by little, taking in the sudden shift in the atmosphere around them. Keith’s never been in this sort of position before, always stepping back, fearing his lack of people skills would do more harm than good. However, he finds himself having fun somewhere along the way, watching Lance attempting to joke with Tsum-da, flustering the alien chief adorably. Keith can’t help but notice how good Lance is at this, at easing tension and bringing sunshine wherever he is. Keith feels Lance’s sunshine start spreading warmth through his body, through the entire battleground. Indy has curled up next to Lance, resting her head on his thigh, and the people they’d knocked out earlier are beginning to wake up. They start gathering around Keith, Lance and Tsum-da, inching closer curiously, watching and whispering amongst themselves.

When Allura gets there, the scene around them has changed completely. Keith spots her as she emerges from the trees, Romelle right behind her, and their pastel eyes widen as they take in the sight that greets them. As Keith jogs towards them, the light from the fire flickers on his face, smiling and sweaty. He pushes his damp hair out of his eyes and slows to a stop in front of the Alteans.

“Hey,” Keith greets breathlessly. 

“What is going on here?” Romelle asks, her purple eyes wide and shining.

Keith chuckles, bringing a hand to scratch the back of his neck, glancing behind him. It’s quite a sight, he thinks, one that he never expected to see when he woke up earlier today. The sun’s going down already, painting the sky pink and orange and purple, making the river behind them glitter in gold and silver. And well, it looks like a small party is happening in their patch of shore. Keith has no idea how it happened, honestly, one thing just led to another and now, there’s a bonfire and alien warriors chatting easily amongst themselves while roasting some fish. There’s some others by the river, holding some sort of competition as to who can catch more jumping fish. A female warrior has also taken a liking to Indy, and has been chasing her around for half a varga already, trying to pet the wolf, amusing some of her comrades. There’s also Lance and Tsum-da, sparring a few meters away from the bonfire, laughing easily and showing each other their best moves. There’s a small crowd gathered around them, some of them trying to imitate things they’ve seen Lance or their leader do.

“Well,” Keith tries, turning back to Romelle and Allura.

“Looks like you’ve got everything under control,” Allura says, a mixture of pride and surprise coating her voice, a soft smile playing on her lips. 

“I--I guess?” Keith says.

“Good job,” Allura tells Keith, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes shine, boring into Keith’s, as if saying  _ I knew you had it in you. _

Keith hates the way he feels his cheeks start turning red under the compliment, so he looks away. “Come on,” Keith says, clears his throat. “I’ll introduce you to Tsum-da.”

Tsum-da bows deeply when he’s introduced to Allura. Keith’s lips quirk up, knowing this isn’t the first time Allura is mistaken by a goddess. Allura starts blushing, trying to communicate with the alien chief. Romelle shoots a small smile at Keith and Lance and they both take their leave then.

Some of the warriors by the fire call them over, so Keith and Lance make their way to them and get handed some food. They sit down on the ground, a bit separated from the group of aliens, crossing their legs. Their knees brush.

The fish they’ve been given has a nice, smoky taste to it. It also tastes a lot like chicken somehow, which is fine by Keith since he’s never been a fan of seafood or… river food. Neither of them say anything as they eat, content to finally take a break and let their bodies rest after vargas of trekking and sparring.

“So,” Keith breaks the silence. “A sword, huh?”

Lance turns to him then, a huge grin on his face. 

“It’s an Altean broadsword. Pretty cool, yeah?” Lance says, chest puffing out in pride. He looks beautiful, light flickering on his face, glinting off his eyes, illuminating the patched up cut on his cheek. Keith feels his heart squeeze uncomfortably, so he just looks away.

“You’re kinda sloppy with it,” Keith manages to say, eyes fixed on the fire in front of them.

“Hey--!”

“I’m just saying,” Keith cuts him off. “You could get better at it.”

“Yeah?” Lance says, scooting closer to Keith, their shoulders pressed together. The point of contact is hot and it does Keith’s stomach do weird things. Lance’s voice turns teasing when he continues, “Will you teach me then? Will you be my  _ sensei~ _ ?”

“Sure,” Keith says, shrugging, trying his best to sound nonchalant.

“Wait, really?” Lance says, pulling back in shock to look at Keith properly, as if he didn’t expect him to agree. Keith just nods. 

“Cool,” Lance continues, placing his hands behind his back to support himself in them, relaxing. Keith unconsciously moves to mirror Lance’s position. His fingers are only a few centimeters away from Lance’s. Keith hates his brain for informing him about the fact, since Keith feels a little stuck on it now.

“I won’t go easy on you,” Keith warns.

Lance just nudges him playfully. “I don’t expect you to.”

Keith’s exhale comes out shakily. “Good.”

 

♥️

 

“So that was fun,” Lance says, shifting the basket of fish from one arm to the other.

“Hmm,” Keith hums in response, eyes following Indy as she leads them through the jungle, back to their team and their lions. Allura and Romelle insisted they head back to camp before them, since they were still busy talking to Tsum-da and Pidge had started to complain loudly over the coms.

“I am famished. Starved. If you’re not here with food in two doboshes I will perish,” Pidge had declared dramatically. Keith’s decided the penchant for dramatism runs in the family. Lance had chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“We’re on our way,” Lance had replied.

They’d said goodbye to Tsum-da, who refused to let them part until they received some gifts. So Lance and Keith had been showered by good luck charms from some of the warriors, some shiny rocks, some beautiful carved stone knives, and food. They’d given them a basket full of the jumping chicken fish, and another full of edible fruit and medicinal herbs.

Lance and Keith had turned to look at each other, eyes meeting in agreement. These people are too kind.

They’ve been walking through the darkening jungle for around twenty doboshes, and they know they still have around a whole varga to go. It’ll probably be pitch dark by then. The conversation has been sparse, both of them a bit sleepy after eating, content to be listening to the sounds of the peaceful jungle around them. Until Lance broke the silence earlier, that is.

“Yeah, it was fun,” Keith continues. “Didn’t they kinda remind you of like… early humans?”

“They were green, Keith,” Lance replies, eyeing him with a teasing look.

Keith shoves him playfully, which makes Lance stumble a little and smile. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Lance says and nods. “Yeah, they did.”

“It’s kinda weird isn’t it?” Keith asks. Keith hasn’t been able to get it out of his head all day.

“What is?”

“We like, are aliens who came to the planet of the equivalent of ancient humanity and we taught them stuff,” Keith says, voice filled with awe.

“Calm down, dude,” Lance says through a smile. “We just taught them a few moves, is all.”

“Imagine if we could stay longer though, and teach them more stuff, you know like architecture and shit,” Keith presses. “That would be exactly like what happened back on Earth. Aliens came, Lance, and taught us everything.”

“Where did you even get this information?” Lance asks, raising a brow at Keith, still smiling. If Keith didn’t know better, he’d say it’s a little bit fond. 

“...Ancient Aliens,” Keith admits.

“Keith, that show is ancient,” Lance replies.

“It’s a classic, okay, with lots of very interesting information,” Keith responds defensively. 

“Who even has the brain cells to remember some shit someone said on Ancient Aliens and not remember me?” Lance says, and his voice is playful but Keith senses something underneath it. Like it’s something that’s been on his mind a long time. Lance has never been really good at hiding his feelings, at least not with Keith.

Keith feels his cheeks start heating up, thinking about all those years ago when they’d rescued Shiro. He remembers seeing Lance, scanning his face, not recognizing him. But could anybody really blame him though? When Lance looked so different from the boy Keith had last seen on the Garrison before he was kicked out. His face was pointier, his features sharper, his body taller and losing all of the baby fat. He looked nothing like what Keith remembered.

“You looked different,” Keith mumbles in admission, looking away with a small pout on his lips. “You were… taller.”

Lance barks out a small laugh, amused. “Just taller?” he teases. “Not hotter and looking devilishly handsome?” He shoots a wink at Keith, and a sparkling smile. It sort of lodges itself in his throat.

“That too,” he breathes out and Lance stops in his tracks. Keith pauses a few steps in front of him. Fuck, he didn’t meant to say that out loud. He feels his entire face turn red as he clenches his fist. Slowly, he glances back at Lance. Lance is standing there, stiff as a rod, and under the dull light of the last rays of sun, Keith sees Lance’s cheeks tinged in pink, his eyes wide and blinking, staring out into space. He looks a bit shocked and a bit confused, as if he’s sure he’s misheard.

Keith’s stomach is tangling itself up at the sight, so he clears his throat. Lance looks up at him then, and when their eyes meet, Lance’s face visibly softens. Keith suddenly can’t breathe. Lance opens his mouth to say something, but Keith doesn’t let him.

“At this pace we’re never gonna get to camp,” Keith says, turning around, trying to get his breathing under control. Indy’s barking at them up ahead, so he starts walking, listening to Lance’s footsteps behind him get closer and closer to him.

When he catches up, Keith glances at Lance from the corner of his eye. His face still has got that look. That soft look.

“This was the first mission we’ve had together in a while,” Lance speaks up, trying to sound casual.

“Yeah.”

“We did good.”

“Yeah…” Keith repeats, brow furrowing, unsure where Lance is going with this.

“I told you so,” Lance says, soft eyes on Keith. “We are a good team.”

It’s Keith’s turn to stop dead, gaping at Lance who’d paused just ahead. Did he just--? Did he seriously--? That means--

“You remember!” Keith says, pointing an accusing finger at Lance. “You mother _ fucker _ .”

In the quiet, darkening jungle, Lance’s laughter echoes.

 

˚ 　　 * ⋆    
　　 * 　·  　 　    
　　　 ✵   ˚ 　* 　　✵   .    
　  　 　　　 ✧　  　　   
 　 ✦  　 . 　. ·  ✹    
.   · 　 　　.  ✺

 

When Keith is walking up the ramp to Black’s belly, he hears it.

He hears the soft voice, carrying from inside the metal Lion, wind curling in a melody. The sound of it is so sweet, it melts the exhaustion off his bones. His lips twitch into a small smile. Lance.

Keith spots Lance before Lance has a chance to notice him. He’s sitting on a chair next to Shiro, who’s still sleeping with his healing pod connected to Black’s main powercore. He’s playing some game on his phone and he’s… singing. Keith can’t understand the words, but the sound of the melody feels colorful and the trumpet effects Lance is doing are… way over the top but still feel happy. Keith could watch this forever.

But he clears his throat.

“Hey,” he says, effectively catching Lance’s attention. Keith walks over with a small smile, watching the Cuban boy’s cheeks color up with a light blush. He straightens up in his chair and places his phone on his lap. He seems a bit embarrassed to have been caught singing. But honestly, Keith doesn’t think Lance has anything to be embarrassed about since his voice is… very nice.

“Hey, Keith!” Lance says, chuckling nervously. “You’re back early.”

Keith nods, pulling up a folding chair they had picked up somewhere, and sits down opposite Lance, next to Shiro. Theoretically, Keith knows Lance comes visit Shiro often. Everyone does. Keith’s walked in on Hunk telling Shiro everything about their day, even though Allura insists Shiro probably doesn’t hear him. Coran also ignores Allura’s claims of Shiro’s current indisposition to listening to things, because he comes by every day to recount old Altean folk tales so when Shiro wakes up, he’s more culturized. Pidge likes to come by when she knows no one else will be around, because she enjoys the quiet while they wait for Shiro to wake up. She’s been around a lot more lately, though. Everyone has. Shiro isn’t alone for a single tick these days, since Allura keeps telling them  _ any day now. _ Any day now.

So really, Keith isn’t surprised to see Lance here, at Shiro’s bedside. He’s just never actually seen Lance here before. It was always a matter of time, he guesses.

“I hope you brought some meat,” Lance says, looking at Keith slyly.

Keith smiles. “We did, don’t worry,” he tells Lance. They’ve only been eating weird vegetables and vegetable soup for a week, so Keith understands Lance’s craving. “Krolia and Allura are out there checking if it’s actually edible.”

They’ve stopped at an uninhabited planet (for real this time) to rest a little. Keith and Pidge had gone out earlier, trying to find something different for their dinner tonight. They’re probably only staying the night at the deserted planet, not wanting to waste any time. Everyone’s been getting impatient lately, since Earth was only around 250 light years away now. They’ll be arriving any day now. Any day now.

“Nice,” Lance comments, grabbing his phone again, flipping through some pictures. Keith takes out his tablet then, reading on some reports of the Coalition. They’re quiet for a while, and it feels comfortable. Keith has never spent that much time in silence with Lance, thinking that the red pilot wasn’t capable of it. Eventually, when the reports in front of him begin to blur, the words losing meaning, it is Keith who breaks the silence.

“What were you singing earlier?” Keith asks Lance, who looks up from his phone at the sound of Keith’s voice.

“Hmm?” he says, eyes widening for a bit as he remembers his earlier embarrassment. The look in his eyes, the blush on his cheeks is… cute. “Oh. An old bolero.”

“What’s that?” Keith asks, having heard the word before but not quite sure of what it is, exactly.

“A type of song from home,” Lance explains, cocking his head with a melancholic smile. “Papá used to play that song for us, on the piano, every New Year’s Eve.” He sighs, shaking his head as if to push away the memories that are probably rising in the front of Lance’s mind. 

“The bolero actually started in Spain a long time ago,” Lance continues. “But Cuba made it better.” He shoots Keith a huge smile.

“I bet,” Keith says, unable to fight a grin.

“A lot of people confuse bolero the genre with Boléro the song,” Lance keeps going, eyes far away. His voice sounds a bit rambly, sounding as if he’s trying to run away from his own thoughts by focusing on something else.

“Bolero the song?” Keith asks, raising an eyebrow and effectively encourage Lance to keep talking.

“Yeah, ages ago this dude called Ravel really liked the beat of a Spanish bolero I guess,” Lance says. “It’s a simple melody that repeats itself. Over and over, but it’s a little bit different each time.”

“Oh,” Keith says, brows twisting into a puzzled frown. “How so?” he finds himself asking, unsure of where he’s taking the conversation to.

“Well,” Lance starts, placing a thoughtful finger on his chin. “Sometimes they add different instruments. Sometimes it sounds the same, but it  _ feels _ different, y’know?” He hums a simple melody, familiar to Keith from the classical music station Aletta loved to listen to. Lance hums it with a different feeling adorning his face whenever he repeats it. Keith smiles, resting his chin on his hand, finding himself endeared. “Like that, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah,” Keith replies. “I think I do.”

“Stop looking at me like that,” Lance mutters once he takes a look at Keith’s face. Keith isn’t sure if it’s the lighting, but Lance seems to be blushing again. 

“Like what?” Keith mumbles, his jaw’s movements restricted by the hand he’s resting it upon.

Lance opens his mouth again, ready to keep talking when they both get distracted by the heavy steps coming up the ramp. They spot Hunk soon after, poking his head first into the room with a smile.

“Hey guys,” he says with a grin, walking in properly. “We left you some dinner ready.”

“Oh, sweet,” Lance says, standing up and stretching. “I’m starving.”

“Wait till you see what I did with the meat Keith brought back,” Hunk says, heading towards Lance’s now empty seat. “Not to toot my own horn but like… it’s good, man. I’m telling you.”

Lance grins. “Can’t wait.” He turns to Keith then, who’s still sitting down. “Are you coming?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be taking over Shiro Watch,” Hunk says, as if Keith actually needs any more convincing when Lance is looking at him like _ that.  _

“Alright,” Keith replies, trying his best to sound indifferent. He flicks off his tablet and leaves it on the chair behind him. “Thanks, Hunk,” he tells the Yellow paladin before Keith and Lance both head out.

Keith doesn’t know how it started, he never does. But when Lance looks at him like that, challenge alight in his eyes, Keith always reacts. They end up racing down the ramp to the campsite, tripping the other playfully, pushing and shoving and tugging on each other’s sleeves. He never knows how it starts, but he’s not complaining. Not when this always fills him with fire. Not when he’s burning like this. Not when he feels alive like this.

As they’re halfway down the ramp, Keith gets an idea. He whistles loud, shoving two fingers through his smile, and he sees Lance’s instant reaction to the sound. His wide eyes, the frown that follows. 

“Don’t you dare, Kei--” Lance starts.

There’s two flashes of bright blue light and Keith wins.

He’s standing next to the campfire they’d built earlier that day. Only Allura and Romelle are outside, sitting a few ways away of the campfire and the table they’d set up. He smiles smugly as he crouches down to pet his loyal wolf, scratching behind her ears lovingly. He hears Lance’s steps grow nearer as he jogs towards them. From this distance, Keith can feel him fuming.

“Keith!” Lance screams. Keith looks up then, catching Lance’s gaze with a smug smile. “That was cheating! You’re a cheater!”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Was it?” he replies, then cocks his head at Lance. “I wasn’t aware there were any rules.”

“Well--well now there are! That’s forbidden next time,” Lance says.

“Alright,” Keith agrees easily, waving Lance off as he walks towards the foldable table Hunk set up. He smiles as he sits down. This has been the second time either Lance or Keith had acknowledged their… unspoken competitions. It feels… nice, Keith’s chest warming up at the idea of a _ next time. _ Even if that next time means competing over who finishes their glass of water first. Keith doesn’t really care what the next challenge will be and he can never guess when it’s coming, but he thinks that’s part of what makes them so… unique.

“Holy shit,” Lance breathes out when he sits next to Keith, mouth watering at the sight of the two plates in front of them. “Did he really--?”

Lance doesn’t even finish his sentence, grabbing a fork and bringing a bite of the shredded meat to his mouth. The sound he makes when he tastes it is something between a moan and a squeal. Keith grabs his fork curiously, watching Lance bring another forkful to his lips and closing his eyes, taking his time as he savors the taste. 

When Keith’s lips close around the fork, the meat is warm in his tongue. It’s juicy and it’s been cooked with some kind of sauce that reminds Keith of tomatoes. He has no idea how Hunk ever managed this taste, probably mixing a lot of alien herbs and spices that he’s collected in their trip. Keith swallows and nods at Lance.

“This is pretty good,” Keith says.

“It’s great!” Lance agrees and sends a sly smile at Keith. “But it’s not as good as mamá’s.”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Mmm,” Lance hums through a new mouthful. “It’s _ ropa vieja.” _

_ “Ropa vieja, _ huh?” Keith repeats, shaping the Spanish vowels clumsily. Keith’s heard about the Cuban dish, thanks to Lance. He’s probably moaned about how much he misses the dish over a plate of food goo, back at the Castle.

“Did you know,” Lance starts, “that the legend says this dish was created by this Cuban father? He was really poor, and he didn’t have anything to give to his children for dinner. So he shredded some old clothes and served them that. Old clothes.  _ Ropa vieja. _ ”

Keith listens to Lance talk as they eat, fighting a smile through his chewing. Lance tells Keith about the dish, about Cuban cuisine, about his mother’s cooking, about random bits and pieces of Cuban history. Keith knows that Lance can talk up a storm, and he might have found it annoying at first, whenever Lance started rambling over the Lions’ comms in the middle of a mission. But now, Keith finds it endearing, the way he’s so passionate about everything, how he knows a little bit of everything, how his eyes shine whenever he shares the contents of his brain.

“You’re full of random facts, huh,” Keith comments when Lance takes a break to drink some water. He was just telling Keith about different kinds of ships and naval strategies that went down in one of Cuba’s historical conflicts. Keith’s a bit impressed, if he’s being honest, at how much random knowledge Lance can store. He thinks about that time Lance told him about the stars, about his country’s music, his country’s food. At his comment, Keith sees Lance’s cheeks heat up as he sets his glass down. Lance scratches the back of his head self-consciously.

“I’m sorry. I--I talk too much sometimes,” Lance says, looking a bit apologetic.

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” Keith says. “I think it’s cool that you know all of these things.”

Lance chuckles a bit bitterly. “And what good is that?” he says, looking away from Keith. “Knowing all this random shit. Like, my dad used to call it  _ información basura. _ Trash information. He said I was full of it.”

“I don’t think--” Keith starts.

“Kinda feels like it’s not useful,” Lance continues, rubbing his hands together and lacing his fingers through each other. His gaze falls on the Red Lion. “Like, sometimes I wish I knew more about, I don’t know, engineering or coding or quintessence or--or something, you know? To actually… be helpful.”

“Listen, Lance,” Keith says, his hand moving unconsciously to squeeze Lance’s shoulder. The red paladin gaze returns to Keith. His eyes look very blue. “You  _ are _ helpful. And as I was trying to say before, I don’t think you’re full of trash information.”

Lance opens his mouth to protest, but Keith shifts in his chair to face Lance better, leaning closer to him. The hand he has on Lance’s shoulder slips towards his bicep. And Keith continues.

“Like, you’re good at remembering things, at processing all this information and like,” Keith sighs, feeling a bit frustrated with himself for not being able to put it into words. Lance stays silent, eyes searching Keith’s. “I think… knowing a little bit of everything is good. Even needed sometimes, you know? You can always fill in the gaps for people. And… you’re observant. And that like, totally complements your quick thinking. You come up with clever plans and stuff. And that’s… cool.”

They stay silent for a few seconds before Lance cracks a smile.

“How hard was it for you to get that out?” Lance starts, voice teasing. Keith feels a blush start spreading to his face from his neck.

“Lance--” 

“No, honestly, I didn’t think Keith Kogane would be capable of such eloquent praise,” Lance continues, grinning face inching closer to Keith’s. Keith’s still blushing but he isn’t even sure if it’s still Lance’s teasing’s fault. He can feel Lance’s breath on his cheeks. “How hard was it?”

And lost in those teasing blue eyes, Keith breathes out, “Not hard at all.”

Fuck. This is becoming a bit of a habit, letting things like that slip. He feels his eyes widen in panic when he sees the smile fade from Lance’s face, morphing his expression into something softer. Something Keith doesn’t have the words to describe but it makes his stomach flip.

Lance blinks and Keith feels like he’s back on the space whale, time slowing down. Lance’s eyes are soft, and there’s an eyelash on his cheek. Vaguely, Keith remembers one of those first few future flashes he’d gotten. The beach. The seagulls. The fireworks in Lance’s eyes. He can almost hear the waves.

Keith feels his hand start to slip from his grip on Lance’s arm. His fingers uncurl and start slowly tracing the lines of Lance’s elbow, his forearm, his wrist--

“Hello,” Allura’s voice startles them. 

Lance folds his hands under the table and straightens up. Keith lets out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and rests his elbows on his knees. 

“Allura,” Keith says, trying to compose his expression before he looks at her. Keith had completely forgotten Allura and Romelle were still out here. The blonde Altean is keeping her distance though, observing the scene from a few meters away.

“Oh, he-ey, Princess,” Lance says, not quite meeting her eyes. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she says, eyes flicking between the two humans. She looks genuinely embarrassed, as if she hadn’t realized it as she walked towards them. It’s… a bit awkward, to say the least. Her gaze lingers on Lance’s face.

“You’re okay,” Keith says, casting a glance at Lance who is still looking everywhere but the Princess. “Was there something you needed?”

She tears her eyes away from Lance and turns to look at Keith, trying to muster up a smile. “Oh,” she says. “I was wondering if you two could extinguish the fire when you’re done here? Romelle and I are heading to bed.”

Keith shoots her a reassuring smile. “Sure thing,” he says.

Keith kind of expected Allura would leave after that, bid them goodnight. But she doesn’t move for a few seconds, trying to catch Lance’s eye. She opens his mouth, ready to say something but Lance interrupts.

“Don’t worry about it, Princess,” he says, finally looking up with a forced smile. “You go get your rest.”

Allura still looks like she doesn’t want to leave, shooting a pleading look at Lance. She gives up though and plasters on a smile of her own, linking her hands together in front of her.

“Thank you,” she tells them. She turns her face towards Romelle, who’s still waiting for her behind them. “I’d better get going,” she says. “Good night!”

“Good night,” Keith calls back, watching her retreating figure head towards the tent they’re sharing. When she’s out of sight, Keith turns back to Lance, watching him visibly relax. Keith clears his throat. “What was that all about?”

Keith isn’t dumb, though, so he kind of knows what it’s about. He’s seen the way Lance had looked at Allura before, seen him trying to flirt with her, and he knows what happened between her and Lotor. But he still wants to give Lance an opening to talk about it, if he wants.

“I think the mice told her,” Lance mumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest with a pout.

“Told her what?” Keith prods.

“I was feeling… lonely, I guess,” Lance continues, his voice quiet. “Everyone was out there doing their stuff, you know. Pidge and Hunk, Allura and Lotor, Coran, and like, you.” He takes a deep breath. The exhale comes out shaky. “I don’t think Allura knew I was kind of serious about her. Not until I talked to those gossipy mice and they totally told her.”

Keith tries not to focus on the  _ was _ . But his mind registers it, anyway. Lance said he  _ was _ serious about her.

“How do you know she knows?” Keith asks instead.

“She’s been acting… weird,” Lance tells him. “I didn’t tell her myself because I knew this was going to happen. Like, we’d been getting along well, yeah? And I thought like, this is good. We’re friends now. And now she’s just… acting weird about it. I… didn’t wanna ruin that.”

“You know,” Keith says. “She might stop acting weird if you talk to her about it. Explain how you felt and how you’re feeling right now. Talking things out helps,” he tells Lance earnestly, thinking about Krolia and the years they spent on the space whale.

“Maybe,” Lance concedes. “Anyway,” he starts again, standing up. “We should get some water to put out the fire. It might get too dark for us to get it later.”

Keith nods.

✷  　　 　 ·　　   
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_ “Hunk!” _ Keith hisses. “Keep your voice down!”

“Oh!” The yellow paladin exclaims, lowering his voice. “Sorry, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Keith whispers, turning his face towards Hunk behind him. Hunk shoots him a small smile, his dark skin illuminated by the blue light of his helmet. “Let’s just…” Keith says and puts a finger to his mouth, gesturing to keep quiet.

Hunk nods and Keith turns back to the terrain in front of them. Keith’s on edge right now, alright. There’s barely anywhere to hide, the strange planet’s terrain rocky and barren. He looks at the small, jagged mountain they’re headed to, noticing it’s still at least ¾ of a mile away. Keith literally sees no other way to the rendezvous point but crossing the patch of desert in front of them. The enemy base could potentially spot them, even if they’re at least five miles to the north, and Keith thinks he heard a few sentries patrolling around earlier. He doesn’t want to risk making any sound or any movement that might get them caught.

Keith crouches a little, motioning Hunk to follow him through the rocky plain. Keith really hopes their plan works. They didn’t really have time to think it through, since they got attacked by around six Galra fighters. None of them saw it coming, especially not now, now that they’re so close to Earth. Krolia told them their attackers are part of Sendak’s troops that managed to eliminate the Blade of Marmora team that was supposed to come after them. They couldn’t let the Galra report their whereabouts or their destination to Sendak.

Pidge had managed to jam their communications, and they’d eliminated five of the Galra fighter ships. They’d all moved to follow the remaining one as it crash landed on a nearby planet. Coran had scanned the area and found a Galra outpost, and the team assumed that the survivor of the crash was headed that way to report to their superiors.

They calculated the rendezvous point and they were on their way, split up in teams, and left their lions hidden. Their best hope right now is that they actually meet the Galra pilot while they cross the mountain, ambush them before they get to command.

Keith lets out a breath of relief when they get to the mountain unspotted and begins to climb the rocks, Hunk following suit. They stop once they reach a small plain, right by the edge of a small ravine where they have perfect visibility of it. This is where they’re expecting the Galra pilot to pass through, since it’s the quickest way to get to the command center from their crash site. On the other side of the ravine, Keith can spot Lance, located in perfect sniping position with Indigo by his side. There’s Pidge and Allura too, hiding behind some rocks down below. They’re all here. 

“This is it,” Keith tells Hunk. 

The yellow paladin shoots Keith a nervous smile, shifting on his feet. They keep their eyes on the distance, trying to adjust their pupils so they can spot the Galra fighter in the dark of the night. 

“So like,” Hunk begins, and Keith knows he’s about to start asking questions like he does when he’s nervous. “How’s it feel to have a Galra mom?”

“Um,” Keith answers quietly. “Hunk, now is not the time.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Hunk mutters again. The quiet between them is short-lived. “Since your mom is Galra, you’re half Galra, right? Why don’t you have pointy ears?”

“Krolia is half Galra,” Keith corrects, still focused on the entrance to the ravine. “Her father was Thelusian.”

“Oooh,” Hunk says, his bayard materializing and dematerializing in his hands. Keith’s noticed Hunk tends to do that when he’s anxious. “That must’ve diluted the Galra genes or something.”

Keith just nods in response, hoping he’s placated Hunk’s curiosity. But he also kind of knows it’s wishful thinking. Keith’s honestly surprised at how he doesn’t mind Hunk’s chattering, now that they’re out of immediate danger. He doesn’t think that the Galra fighter might hear them from this distance anyway, and for some reason, he finds Hunk’s voice soothing.

“You’re kinda tiny for a Galra,” Hunk continues. 

Keith chuckles. “I’m only ¼ Galra, Hunk,” he says.

“But still!” the yellow paladin says. “I’m still taller than you.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Only by an inch now,” he says.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hunk says, waving Keith off. “Still taller.”

Keith smiles a little, crouching down on the rocks to get a better look down. Hunk mirrors his position, eyeing the rest of their team in their hiding spots. 

“I have two moms. You know that, right?” Hunk keeps going in a low voice. Keith nods. “I miss them a lot,” Hunk whispers. “I’m glad you have your mom with you. That you found her.”

Keith turns to Hunk then and grins. His chest feels warm. “Me too,” Keith says, watching the soft expression on his companion’s face. “You’ll see your moms soon.”

“Yeah,” Hunk says, sounding a little bit worried. “If this plan works. If we even make it to Earth.”

“Hey,” Keith says, placing a hand on Hunk’s shoulder and squeezing. “It’s going to work, yeah? We’ll get to Earth. We’ll keep them all safe.”

Hunk gives Keith a grateful smile and opens his mouth to reply, but they hear Pidge’s voice through the comms.

_ “She’s here,” _ she says, voice crackling in their helmet’s speakers.  _ “The Princess and I are moving in. Be ready if we need backup.” _

From their position, Keith and Hunk watch as Pidge and Allura move from their hiding spot. They step into the Galra fighter’s vision, a few yards in front of her, bayards out, shields up and ready to fight. The Galra soldier is quick on her feet, dodging Allura’s whip and Pidge’s arrow blade, taking her gun out and shooting at her two opponents. Keith knows Lance had made a good call when he said Allura and Pidge had to be the ones to meet the Galra fighter on the ground, their mid range weapons perfect for the fight.

Keith sees how Allura hides from the Galra fighter, sneaking around to attack from behind while Pidge distracts her from the front. He grips his bayard tightly as Pidge drops and rolls to dodge the lasers from the enemy’s gun, shooting her bayard out. It wraps around the Galra soldier’s ankle and gives her a nasty electric shock. She cries out and stumbles, untangling herself from Pidge’s bayard, only to get caught by Allura’s whip from behind. The bright blue rope coils itself around the Galra’s chest, succeeding in immobilizing her. Keith let’s out the breath he’s been holding. They’re safe… for now, at least.

“Let’s go,” Keith tells Hunk, and they both jump and slide down the rocks to the bottom of the ravine to meet Pidge and Allura.

“Hey,” Pidge greets when Hunk and Keith get to their side.

“Hey,” Keith says, jogging closer. Allura is on the ground next to the Galra soldier, checking if she wasn’t badly hurt. She seems to be unconscious, so Allura decides to unwrap her whip from the fighter. 

“So, what now?” Hunk says, eyes flickering from the unconscious soldier, to Allura, to Pidge and to Lance that’s still in position above them.

Allura’s fingers twitch, blue sparks igniting from her gloves. “I’ve been reading about memories and magic,” she murmurs, cradling the Galra’s head in her hands, pressing her fingers to the other woman’s temples. “I think I can make her forget she ever saw us.”

“Damn, like a real life  _ obliviate _ ,” Hunk comments, whistling.

“Obliviate?” Allura asks, looking up at Hunk with a frown.

“I don’t think it’s time to talk Harry Potter right now, guys,” Pidge says, crossing her arms over her chest. Keith nods curtly in agreement, starting to tense up again. He really hopes Allura’s magic works. Keith can’t shake off this bad feeling that’s beginning to creep in his brain. He kind of feels like… this has been too easy.

“Alright,” Allura says, taking a deep breath. She closes her eyes, focusing her magic on her fingers that are resting on the Galra’s temples. “Here we go,” she murmurs, but before she can actually get to work, the Galra’s yellow eyes snap open and her lips twist into a snarl. 

She jumps up, taking a blade out of her belt and attacks Allura, hitting her with the handle of her weapon to knock her out. Keith barely has time to react, unsheathing his Marmora Blade, and he lunges at the fighter to catch her before she can hurt Allura further. The clang of blade meeting blade echoes through the ravine loudly, too loudly, as Keith and the Galra soldier engage in a sword fight.

From the corner of his eye, he sees Hunk scoop Allura up in his arms. The semi-conscious Princess wraps her own arms around Hunk’s neck as he carries her somewhere safe. Meanwhile, Pidge is screaming through the comms, calling Krolia for backup and informing Coran of the situation, her eyes fixed on the crowd of sentries coming from up north. Her bayard materializes in her hand and waits for the enemy to come close enough to attack.

“You’re too late, paladins,” the Galra shouts and glares at Keith, slashing wildly at him with her sword. Keith steps aside, feeling the blade cut through the air next to his arm, and he parries, aiming his sword at the Galra’s torso. She jumps back just in time and shoots him a ferocious smile, sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight.

Behind him, he hears Lance’s snipe gun go off in quick succession, probably knocking some robotic sentries down. They’re hopelessly outnumbered, even if most of the enemies coming their way are just robots. They’ve gotten out of situations like this before, Keith reminds himself, taking a deep breath to steel himself. He trusts his team. And they trust him. And Keith’s going to honor that trust.

“My partner took a speeder,” she hisses, lips crooked in a wicked smile. “Commander Havorg is establishing communications with Lord Sendak as we speak.”

Keith shouts as he charges towards the Galra woman, holding his sword above his head and slashes at his opponent. He manages to wound her, carving a long opening on her shoulder. She screams in pain and frustration, but she doesn’t let her injury stop her. In fact, it seems to spur her on, and Keith’s forced to take the defensive as he’s pushed back, looming closer to the edge of the mountain because of her attacks. 

Keith’s brain registers the sound of Hunk’s barrel gun joining the fight, which probably means Allura’s doing okay. He blocks yet another blow coming from the Galra fighter pilot, barely managing to stand his ground. He takes a step back and feels his heel hit the stone wall behind him. He hears it then, Indy’s panicked howl coming from above. Keith instinctively reacts to the noise, face whipping towards the source of the sound. There’s Lance and Indy, their silhouettes stark against the moonlight, and they’re surrounded. Lance has his sword out, duelling with a Galra soldier while he tries to dodge the shots coming at him from the sentries around them. Even in the midst of a fight, Keith can see how much Lance has improved in his sword-fighting since he started training with Keith, his moves more graceful, his jabs quick. But still, Keith isn’t sure Lance can make it, not with the sentries Keith spots climbing up the mountain towards Lance.

The Galra soldier takes advantage of Keith’s momentary distraction, managing to twist his Marmora blade out of his hands. It clatters as it hits the ground, clanging against some rocks. Keith ducks to dodge the woman’s next blow, crouching to launch a kick towards her legs. The Galra woman stumbles a little but regains her balance quickly, charging at Keith who meets her sword with his materialized bayard, inches from his face. He’s pushed back further by his opponent until he feels his back hit the rock wall.

“Give up!” the woman growls. “It’s over! Lord Sendak will--”

A large  _ boom _ drowns out her words. The sound is literally music to Keith’s ears. His lips curl into a snarl that startles the woman in front of him. He pushes forward, making the Galra stumble backwards a little. Her eyes flick towards the north, where the explosion had come, spotting the clouds of smoke and fire of their Galra outpost. 

It means Krolia made it. She’d been standing by, near the Galra command center, ready to respond in case their ambush went wrong. He hopes Krolia had managed to destroy their communications center before their enemy was able to send any message to Sendak. His opponent looks suddenly panicked, which gives Keith an opening. He feints with his sword and instead punches the Galra soldier’s jaw. In a split second, Keith places a hand on her shoulder, using it as support so he can place his feet on the wall and jump above the soldier to land behind her. 

As his opponent turns around to face him, Keith picks up his Marmora blade from the ground and twirls the Galra and Altean swords in his hands. He can’t help the triumphant chuckle that slips from his lips as he shifts into a low stance, flashing his swords in front of him. He’s been wanting to try this one out for a while now. His grip on his swords tighten. 

“Heh, you sure about that?” Keith taunts, and he pounces at the Galra soldier who seems to be very shaken up now. She’s skilled, Keith has to give her that, but she’s no match for him when he fights with his two swords. They’re the perfect offense and defense, Keith’s spent two years perfecting these moves, back at the space whale. Keith dances with his blades, slicing through the air, countering the Galra’s moves and attacking without hesitation. The fight doesn’t last much longer after that, and Keith ends up hitting the back of the fighter’s neck and she plummets to the ground. She seems unconscious again, but Keith’s not taking any chances this time. He crouches down next to her, digging inside the bags hanging off her utility belt until he finds some rope.

Keith makes a quick job of tying the soldier up and dragging her to the side, far from the battlefield. He double checks if the spot he’s hiding her is good enough before he jogs back to the heart of the battle. He spots Pidge and Hunk, making quick work of all the sentries coming after them. Keith notices they’re keeping score, shouting it out whenever they bring down another one with adrenaline spiked grins on their faces. They seem to be doing well, so Keith keeps scanning the battlefield to see where he could help.

He notices some arrows showering down from above, knocking out several robots at once. He follows the arrows’ complex trajectory to their archer, Allura. Keith doesn’t really have time to gape at the Princess’s exceptional archery skills because his attention is caught by a loud scream.

His eyes find Lance for the third time since all hell broke loose, and Keith feels his heart jump to his throat. Lance is barely hanging on to the side of the mountain, his right hand gripping a rock on the wall, the left one holding his shield up, covering the majority of his body from the sentries shooting at him. He’s trying his best to find somewhere he can support his feet on, but there’s no jagged rock big enough and they keep crumbling under his weight. His feet are dangling off the cliff, and the fall… is too big for Lance to make it. 

Keith’s own feet start moving on their own accord, running towards Lance at full speed. He sees Lance’s face contort into a pained expression, the shout coming from his effort to hold on to the rocks rings loudly in Keith’s ears. He can see Lance’s shape growing larger as Keith nears but… he might be too far away to make it.

Keith’s heart is beating painfully inside his chest, hammering against his rib cage, squeezing up his lungs. He can’t run any faster, and Lance’s fingers are slipping. He’s not going to make it. Panic seizes him, fills up his lungs, overwhelms him. Indy’s too far away, her tail trapped under a sentry. Besides, he has no idea how Indy could be of any aid to Lance in this position. She can’t reach him. Keith can’t either. 

_ Help!  _ He thinks wildly. Something. Someone. Anyone.

As a last resort, Keith grabs his Marmora blade and throws it towards Lance with a hoarse yell. Keith watches the blade fly through the air and sink into the rock wall, a few inches away from Lance’s right foot. The red paladin’s eyes widen, spotting Keith in the distance and recognizes the sword as help. So Lance extends his leg, his toes barely reaching the metal blade to rest his weight upon. Keith holds his breath, still running, hoping he’s managed to buy some time.

Time.

Time’s a funny thing, and Keith hates it. He hates how Time keeps torturing him, slowing down to almost a stop, solidifying the air around him, pressing upon his chest like on the long days at the space whale. Keith sees it happen in slow motion, the rock under Lance’s fingers turns into dust, his foot misses the hilt of Keith’s blade... He sees Lance close his eyes and he falls.

Lance falls and Keith’s too far away. Lance falls and Keith can’t help him. Lance falls and Keith screams, but in the back of his head, Keith hears a lion roar. Keith trips over a rock, scraping his hands and knees on the floor as he breathes out in relief. Lance is safe.

Black’s here.

The Lion catches Lance between his ears as he teleports into the ravine. Keith can hear the loud clang Lance’s body makes when he lands on the metallic lion, and a pained groan from the red paladin. He’s alive. Lance is safe.

His lion growls, complaining inside Keith’s head instead of greeting his pilot.  _ Again? _ It feels like Black is saying. Keith’s gotten really good at understanding his growls and roars and whines. _ You can’t do anything without me _ . 

Keith looks up at Black, jumping to his feet as the Black Lion digs his claws into the ground in front of him. Keith shoots the feline a smile, waving him off as Keith jogs towards Black’s mouth. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Keith grumbles, patting the metal by Black’s jaw. The lion purrs inside his head. “Thank you, boy.”

His lion lowers his head so Keith can climb up his face towards Lance. The red paladin is sitting with his back to Black’s yellow ears, his leg twisted in an unnatural way. Lance’s face is twisted in pain, but he has his rifle out and he’s shooting at some sentries.

“Lance!” Keith exclaims as he clambers up. The Cuban boy looks up at Keith, startled, but his lips twitch into a strained smile. “You okay?” Keith asks, even though he knows that leg cannot possibly be okay. He jogs up towards Lance, crouching beside the boy clad in blue. His fingers trail over the crooked lines of Lance right leg, barely touching him. 

“Tell Black I say thank you,” Lance says, meeting Keith’s violet eyes. They’re both breathing hard.

“Yeah,” Keith says, touching a hand to Lance’s neck. “Can you stand?”

Lance winces, dematerializing his bayard and shakes his head at Keith. “I don’t-- I don’t think so.”

“Alright,” Keith says, slipping an arm under Lance’s knees and wrapping one around his shoulders.

“What the fuck!” Lance splutters, flailing, as Keith lifts him off the metal under their feet. Lance’s cheeks are as red as his lion. Keith feels a similar heat creep up his neck, feeling Lance wiggling in his arms. “Keith! Let me go!”

Keith tightens his hold around Lance’s shoulder. “Stop fucking moving,” Keith hisses. “You can’t walk, right? How are you gonna get down from here?”

Lance’s lips pull themselves into a tight smile, still blushing under his freckles. “Good point,” he says and reluctantly… or hesitantly… he links both his arms around Keith’s neck. Keith feels Lance’s breath on his jaw. 

“Just don’t drop me,” Lance says, quieter than Keith expected. 

“Who do you think I am?” Keith mutters, struggling to maintain balance as Black lowers his head again. Lance just raises an eyebrow. Yeah, okay.

Lance glances at the distance between the Lion’s head and the ground and curses under his breath. Keith chuckles, walking towards Black’s nose, getting ready to jump.

“Relax,” he mutters to Lance.

“Yeah, no can do, my friend,” Lance replies, a hysterical chuckle slipping from his lips. Keith feels Lance’s fingers twist on their hold of Keith’s neck. “That’s a long way down.”

“I’ve done this jump a thousand times.”

“But you’ve never jumped with someone in your arms,” Lance says. “You  _ could _ drop me. It’s a possibility.”

“You can trust me, you know,” Keith says, voice coming out exceedingly soft. His violet eyes pierce the blue ones in front of him. 

Lance’s fingers slip to Keith’s hair, knuckles getting tangled in the damp locks of his mullet. Lance smiles.

“I know,” he breathes out. And Keith jumps.

Their landing is rough. Pain shoots up Keith’s legs but it’s bearable. He’s not injured or anything, so he motions to Black who opens up his mouth for Keith. Keith runs up the ramp to his Lion, dodging the lasers that might him either him or Lance. He doesn’t stop running until he reaches Black’s pilot room and sets Lance down on the pilot’s seat.

“Oh, Keith,” Lance says, fake swooning on the pilot’s chair. “If you wanted me to pilot Black, you could’ve just asked.”

Keith rolls his eyes, grabbing Lance’s shoulders to make sure he sits up straight. “In your dreams,” Keith says, teasing smile on his lips. “This is the closest you’re ever gonna get to that.”

Keith turns around, his back to Lance and sits down between the red paladin’s legs. Keith tries really hard to fight his blush and focus on piloting, stretching his arms out to get a hold of Black’s controls. He feels Lance’s chest against his back, and fuck, this is too distracting. This was a bad idea, but it was the only thing Keith could think of. He isn’t gonna let Lance and his injured leg sit on the ground while Keith pilots Black, and Lance can’t stand. This was the only option where Lance isn’t being tossed around inside the Black Lion’s cockpit.

“What!” Lance squeals, his voice on Keith’s ear.

“Shut up, Lance,” Keith mumbles and pushes the bars for Black to take off. Lance tenses up a little against Keith’s back when he starts piloting. Keith tries his best to ignore Lance and the fact that he’s pretty much sitting between the Cuban boy’s thighs. Keith grits his teeth and begins shooting at the sentries, flying around and doing crazy flips with Black. He needs to concentrate. 

But that’s impossible, now that Lance is wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder. It’s Keith’s turn to stiffen now.

“Slow down,” Lance whispers. “This ain’t Red.”

“Black can keep up,” Keith retorts, sending a laser ray to eliminate all of the sentries crowding around Pidge and Hunk in one go. He feels his jaw lock as he grits his teeth.

“Can he?” Lance asks, his voice dubious. Lance glances at a side screen, where the energy levels are shown. “For how long?”

Keith’s eyes flicker towards the same screen Lance is looking at and his grip on the controls tightens. Lance is right. Keith’s being reckless. Black isn’t as fast or agile as Red and he hasn’t recovered from Lotor’s fight completely.

Keith thinks of the words Krolia had said to him, back in the space whale.  _ In the middle of a fight, _ she’d said,  _ you must keep it cool enough to be able to use your perspective _ . To look at his past and experience, his future and plans, and his present and resources.

If Keith’s being honest, he hadn’t been focusing on the present, his mind too intent on running away from it. Running away from the feeling of Lance’s warm chest against his back, of his arms around Keith’s waist, of his chin digging into Keith’s shoulder. Trying to run away from  _ now _ is a distraction.

Keith’s jaw relaxes as he breathes in, allowing himself to sink into the present, sink into Lance’s arms, into Lance’s warmth.

“You’re right,” Keith tells Lance, whose grip around his waist tightens a little. The squeeze is comforting, reassuring.

Keith doesn’t think he’s ever flown Black so smoothly before.

 

♥️

 

“Come on,” Keith grunts, standing up. He crouches low anyway, gesturing for Lance to climb on his back. “Let’s see if Allura can do anything about that leg of yours.”

“Mkay,” Lance mumbles. He sounds tired, sleepy, tender in his movements and slow on his reaction time. Still, he sprawls his body over Keith’s back, wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck to steady himself. Lance hisses in pain a little when Keith grips his right thigh to carry Lance better. “Careful.”

“Sorry,” Keith mumbles and starts walking outside Black’s cockpit, door sliding open to allow the two paladins out.

“S’fine,” Lance says, sighing right on Keith’s ear. The Black paladin shivers.

As they walk down the ramp from Black, Indy is the first one to greet them. She teleports to Keith’s side, whining worriedly and pressing her nose against his thigh.

“We’re okay, girl,” Keith tells Indy, smiling down at his wolf. The blue wolf doesn’t look impressed, nudging Lance’s right foot, making the Paladin yelp. “Well, mostly okay.”

After Black had arrived to the battlefield, the battle shifted entirely in their favor. Coran managed to disable the remaining sentries, and it was over. Krolia had already captured all the actual Galra soldiers at command, rounding them up for the Princess. Keith can see them now, Allura and his mother, crouching next to the Galra prisoners a few yards away from Keith’s lion. 

“Alright,” Allura says, standing up and dusting off her hands. She looks completely exhausted. “I think we’re done here. I’ve replaced their memories of us and the Lions. They all think they’ve encountered with some lost rebels, so if Sendak ever calls to get any report from them, that’s gonna be their story.”

Krolia sighs in relief. “Great,” Keith’s mother says, wiping away some soot left on her cheek. She spots Keith then, walking towards them. Krolia’s yellow eyes flit between Keith and Lance, and grins, adding in a suggestive eyebrow wiggle for good measure.

Keith feels himself blush. Why is she like this.

For Keith’s own sanity, he thinks it’s best to ignore her so he clears his throat. 

“Allura,” Keith speaks, catching the Princess’ attention. When he has the chance to properly look at her, he feels bad for asking anything from her while she’s in this state. He doesn’t think he’d ever seen her look more tired, except maybe when she did the ritual at the Balmera.

“Oh,” Allura breathes out, her eyes on Lance. 

“I think he broke his femur,” Keith mumbles, trying to set Lance on the ground next to Allura. Lance untangles himself from Keith, grunting when he lowers himself to sit on a rock. He hisses when he tries to straighten his leg, brows twisted in pain, his two hands gripping his thigh.

“Fuck,” Lance whispers and Keith can see him holding back tears. Keith feels his heart squeeze in his chest, looking helplessly at Krolia. His mother tries to give him a reassuring smile and moves to kneel on Lance’s left side, opposite Allura that took Lance’s right. 

“Lance,” Allura says, her hands hovering over Lance’s leg. “I need to remove the armor on your legs to check.” She bites her lip. “It’s going to hurt.”

Lance just nods, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. “Okay,” he says. “I’m ready.”

Allura looks at Krolia, who nods and extends her hands towards Lance’s right thigh to assist Allura. Without warning Lance first, Allura lifts Lance’s injured leg lightly and Krolia makes quick work of unfastening the piece of armor.

“Holy—fuck— _ quiznack _ ,” Lance whispers in pain, fists digging into the rock he’s resting upon. His knuckles are white.

“There,” Allura says, slowly lowering Lance’s leg back on the ground after Krolia slipped the white armor off. “How are we feeling?”

“My leg is on fire,” Lance replies, trying to keep his voice even. Allura winces sympathetically, knowing probably that it’s not gonna stop any time soon. 

“I’m gonna do a manual exploration of your femur, alright?” she says and she proceeds to run her fingers through Lance’s thigh. Keith can see how she presses down on Lance’s muscles, probably trying to feel up the bone underneath.

Under the moonlight, Lance’s face looks really pale. There are beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and he’s biting his bottom lip, trying his best not to make a sound. He doesn’t succeed though, little gasps and hisses and grunts escaping his lips despite his best efforts.

“Yeah,” Allura sighs, sitting back on her heels. “It’s broken. It seems to be a clean fracture and it wouldn’t be a problem if we had a healing pod but…” she trails off. “I can’t do much but try and set the fragments straight and keep it immobilized. At least until we get to Earth.”

Lance exhales, his breath coming out shaky. “Let me guess,” Lance says, sounding a bit defeated. “Since we don’t have the tools, it’s gonna hurt like a bitch.”

“Yes,” Krolia says, frowning. She places a comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder. “And you’ll probably need surgery when we get to your planet.”

“Great, alright, good,” Lance says, as if he’s trying to convince himself that this situation actually is all those things. “Let’s just get on with it, yeah?”

“I think it’s best if we move you somewhere you can be laying down for this,” Allura mutters. “Coran,” she says, louder this time through the comms. “Please bring me our table. And Pidge, could you find something we could use as a splint? About 50 inches long.”

“Sure thing, Princess,” Coran replies. 

“On it!” Pidge responds.

Keith sighs, shifting his weight on the balls of his feet. If he’s being honest, he feels a bit useless at the moment. Watching Lance be in so much pain breaks Keith’s heart. He wishes he could do something, anything. 

Coran arrives with Hunk a dobosh later, both of them carrying the foldable metal table and set it up in the nearest flat surface. Keith takes a tentative step towards Lance. 

“Want me to set you up there?” Keith asks and Lance nods gratefully. Keith shoots the red paladin a smile, bending his knees to pick Lance up like the first time, with a gentle arm under his knees and another one over Lance’s shoulder. Lance automatically moves his hands around Keith’s neck to hold on.

Keith moves Lance on top of the table, gently helping him lay down on it. Lance breathes out in thanks, his right hand slipping from Keith’s neck to his forearm and gripping it tight. So Keith stays standing by Lance’s side, making sure he’s not getting in either Allura’s or Krolia’s way.

“Thank you, Keith,” Allura says, taking a deep breath. “Lance, are you ready?”

His nails dig into the flesh of Keith’s forearm. “As I’ll ever be,” he replies.

Allura gives Lance a final nod and turns to his leg to get to work. As soon as her fingertips touch Lance’s thigh, Lance’s grip on Keith’s arm loosens up but only to slide down to his hand. Without really thinking about it, Keith tangles their fingers together and squeezes softly, reassuringly. 

While Allura works, Lance never lets go of Keith’s hand. And Keith just holds on, hoping this helps a little to ease Lance’s pain. Even when Lance squeezes so hard Keith feels his fingertips grow numb.

“I’m done,” Allura says, her slender fingers sparking with magic. There’s a makeshift splint around Lance’s leg, keeping it properly immobilized. Krolia thinks it’s gonna do its job well. 

“I’m going to try and help with the pain. Is that okay?” Allura continues. 

Lance gives the Princess a lopsided smile. “That sounds perfect,” he replies, squeezing Keith’s hand once more. 

Lance’s reaction to Allura’s magic is immediate. The pained lines on his face disappear, his grip on Keith relaxes a little, and he lets out a small satisfied sigh.

“So,” Lance says, a tired look on his eyes. “That was fun.”

“Lance, you almost  _ died!” _ Keith replies heatedly. Lance just looks at Keith, his lips quirking up. 

“But I didn’t,” Lance says and winks.

Keith huffs and rolls his eyes, looking away pointedly. He still holds Lance’s hand though. 

“You’re impossible,” Keith mumbles. 

“Hmm,” Lance hums and he chuckles. He turns to the Altean Princess then, meeting her eyes for the first time in weeks.

“Allura,” Lance murmurs. “Thank you.”

Her light blue eyes soften around the edges, exhaustion momentarily disappearing. Her gaze falls on Keith and Lance’s linked fingers and she allows herself to smile. 

With one last look at Lance, she says, “You’re very welcome.”

Before everyone heads to rest for the night, Krolia gives Keith that look again, complete with another brow wiggle. Keith knows his face is red as a tomato, but he keeps holding Lance’s hand anyway. What the hell, right? 

Lance runs his thumb over Keith’s knuckles. They both smile. 

 

✵  　*     
　　　　　 ✹  · · 　 . 　　 *   
·  · . .  · * 　 *  　   
* .  . 　.  　 . . 　   
˚  　 ˚ * .　　　　　　✷  . *   
 ˚ 　*  ˚ ✫ ·  　 ·    
. · .*

 

There it is.

Flying his Lion through the rocky space of Saturn’s rings, Keith is the first one to spot it, the tiny Pale Blue Dot at the distance. It’s no bigger than a speck of dust. But it’s there.

Keith remembers dreaming about this sight, back when he was a young kid, at Aletta’s house. It was the time before the Garrison, a time when space and the stars were only something to fantasize about. He remembers looking at this really old picture taken by the Voyager probe in 1990, probably flying near Team Voltron’s current position. Keith remembers feeling amazed by it, by how huge the world seemed to him and how tiny it actually is.

Carl Sagan talked about this, about how this tiny point in the middle of the infinite space contains everything humanity holds dear. After seeing countless other planets, travelled through hundreds of galaxies and meeting so many different civilizations… after seeing all of that and now, seeing his home planet again, Keith thinks of the late astronomer’s words.

_ The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena...  _ _ Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. _

Sagan might have never imagined this intergalactic war, the Galra, quintessence or giant mecha lions, but he was right, Keith thinks. Even if the astronomer was wrong in assuming that help couldn’t come from elsewhere, Keith feels like he was right when Sagan said that saving humanity is ultimately up to them. 

Keith feels a mixture of nervousness and excitement, not quite sure of what is waiting for them in Earth. He hopes humanity will want to fight alongside Voltron. He hopes humanity will want to rise up and save themselves. 

_ It’s up to us. _

“This is it guys,” he says, bracing himself to make Black accelerate. “We’re almost home.”

His lion roars.

✫ ·   　 　　　   
　✷   　　　 　　　   . 　　    
　　 .  　 ✧　   
 .    　　　　　 　 　　   
  
˚ · 　　 ·  　　　　　 ⋆ 　　　　　　    
　　 　  　　 　 　　·  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome.


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